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JULES VERNE’S WORKS 


AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. Illustrated. 8vo . net J1.80 
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STEAM HOUSE. Part I. The Demon of Cawnpore. Part H. 

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GIANT RAFT. Part I. Eight Hundred Leagues on the Ama- 
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trated. 8vo . net 2.25 


SCRIBNER’S 


CHARLES 


SONS 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 
■ UNDER THE SEA 






“A man! A ship-wrecked sailor!” 


cried. 




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Twenty Thousand Leagues 
Under the Sea 


BY 

JULES VERNE 

II 



ILLUSTRATED 


NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 
1916 


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CONTENTS 

PART I 

CHAPTER 

I. A Shifting Reef 


II. 

Pro and Con 

III. 

I Form my Resolution .... 

IV. 

Ned Land 

V. 

At a Venture 

VI. 

At Full Steam 

VII. 

An Unknown Species of Whale 

VIII. 

Mobilis in Mobili 

IX. 

X. 

Ned Land’s Tempers .... 

The Man of the Seas .... 

XI. 

All by Electricity .... 

XII. 

Some Figures 

XIII. 

The Black River 

XIV. 

A Note of Invitation .... 

XV. 

A Walk on the Bottom of the Sea 

'xvi. 

A Submarine Forest .... 

XVII. 

Four Thousand Leagues Under the 

XVIII. 

Vanikoro 

XIX. 

Torres Straits 

XX. 

A Few Days on Land .... 

XXI. 

Captain Nemo’s Thunderbolt . 

XXII. 

“Ægri Somnia” 

XXIII. 

The Coral Kingdom .... 


CONTENTS. 


VÎ 


PART II 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Indian Ocean 145 

II. A Novel Proposal of Captain Nemo’s . .152 

III. A Pearl of Ten Millions 157 

IV. The Red Sea 165 

V. ThE Arabian Tunnel 175 

VI. The Grecian Archipelago 18 1 

VII. The Mediterranean in Forty-eight Hours . 190 

VIII. Vigo Bay 195 

IX. A Vanished Continent 204 

X. The Submarine Coal Mines . . . .210 

XI. The Sargasso Sea 218 

XII. Cachalots and Whales 223 

XIII. The Iceberg 231 

XIV. The South Pole 238 

XV. Accident or Incident? 247 

XVI. Want of Air 253 

XVII. From Cape Horn to the Amazon . . .261 

XVIII. The Poulps 268 

XIX. The Gulf Stream 276 

XX. From Latitude 47° 24', to Longitude 47° 28' . 283 

XXI. A Hecatomb 288 

XXII. The Last Words of Captain Nemo . . 295 

XXIII. Conclusion 302 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


man! A shiw-precked sailor!” I cried . . Frontispiece • ' 

FACING 

PAGE 

An old gray-bearded gunner 46 .. 

Captain Nemo’s state-room 86 

Captain Nemo took the Sun’s altitude 102 

I was ready to set out 120 

Conseil seized his gun 174 

All fell on their knees in the attitude of orayer . . .198 

A terrible coi^at began 228 

The Nautilus was floating near a mountain .... 298 

The Nautilus was blocked up 328 - 

One of these long arms glided through the opening . . 386 ■ 

The unfortunate vessel sank more rapidly . . . .414 — ' 



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PART I 




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TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 
UNDER THE SEA 


CHAPTER I 

A SHIFTING REEF 

The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable inci- 
dent, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, 
which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to 
mention rumours which agitated the maritime popu- 
lation, and excited the public mind, even in the interior 
of continents, seafaring men were particularly excited. 
Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skip- 
pers, both of Europe and America, naval officers of 
all countries, and the Governments of several states 
on the two continents, were deeply interested in the 
matter. 

For some time past, vessels had been met by “an 
enormous thing,” a long object, spindle-shaped, occa- 
sionally phosphorescent, and infinitely larger and more 
rapid in its movements than a whale. 

The facts relating to this apparition (entered in 
various log-books) agreed in most respects as to the 
shape of the object or creature in question, the untir- 
ing rapidity of its movements, its surprising power of 
locomotion, and the peculiar life with which it seemed 
endowed. If it was a cetacean, it surpassed in size all 
those hitherto classified in science. Taking into con- 
sideration the mean of observations made at divers 


4 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


times, — rejecting the timid estimate of those who 
assigned to this object a length of two hundred feet, 
equally with the exaggerated opinions which set it 
down as a mile in width and three in length, — we 
might fairly conclude that this mysterious being sur- 
passed greatly all dimensions admitted by the ichthy- 
ologists of the day, if it existed at all. And that it did 
exist was an undeniable fact ; and, with that tendency 
which disposes the human mind in favour of the mar- 
vellous, we can understand the excitement produced 
in the entire world by this supernatural apparition. 
As to classing it in the list of fables, the idea was out 
of the question. 

On the 20th of July, 1866, the steamer Governor 
Higginson, of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navi- 
gation Company, had met this moving mass five miles 
off the east coast of Australia. Captain Baker thought 
at first that he was in the presence of an unknown 
sandbank; he even prepared to determine its exact 
position, when two columns of water, projected by the 
inexplicable object, shot with a hissing noise a hun- 
dred and fifty feet up into the air. Now, unless the 
sandbank had been submitted to the intermittent erup- 
tion of a geyser, the Governor Higginson had to do 
neither more nor less than with an aquatic mammal, 
unknown till then, which threw up from its blow-hole!i 
columns of water mixed with air and vapour. 

Similar facts were observed on the 23d of July in 
the same year, in the Pacific Ocean, by the Columbus, 
of the West India and Pacific Steam Navigation Com- 
pany. But this extraordinary cetaceous creature could 
transport itself from one place to another with sur- 
prising velocity; as, in an interval of three days, the 


UNDER THE SEA 


5 


Governor Higginson and the Columbus had observed 
it at two different points of the chart, separated by a 
distance of more than seven hundred nautical leagues. 

Fifteen days later, two thousand miles farther off, 
the Helvetia, of the Compagnie-Nationale, and the 
Shannon, of the Royal Mail Steamship Company, sail- 
ing to windward in that portion of the Atlantic lying 
between the United States and Europe, respectively 
signalled the monster to each other in 42° 15' N. lat. 
and 60° 35' W. long. In these simultaneous observa- 
tions, they thought themselves justified in estimating 
the minimum length of the mammal at more than three 
hundred and fifty feet, as the Shannon and Helvetia 
were of smaller dimensions than it, though they meas- 
ured three hundred feet over all. 

Now the largest whales, those which frequent those 
parts of the sea round the Aleutian, Kulammak, and 
Umgullich islands, have never exceeded the length of 
sixty yards, if they attain that. 

These reports arriving one after the other, with 
fresh observations made on board the transatlantic 
ship Pereire, a collision which occurred between the 
Etna of the Inman line and the monster, a procès 
verbal directed by the officers of the French frigate 
Normandie, a very accurate survey made by the staff 
of Commodore Fitz- James on board the Lord Clyde, 
greatly influenced public opinion. Light-thinking 
people jested upon the phenomenon, but grave prac- 
tical countries, such as England, America, and Ger- 
many, treated the matter more seriously. 

In every place of great resort the monster was the 
fashion. They sang of it in the cafés, ridiculed it in 
the papers, and represented it on the stage. All kinds 


6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of stories were circulated regarding it. There ap- 
peared in the papers caricatures of every gigantic and 
imaginary creature, from the white whale, the terrible 
“ Moby Dick ” of hyperborean regions, to the immense 
kraken whose tentacles could entangle a ship of five 
hundred tons, and hurry it into the abyss of the ocean. 
The legends of ancient times were even resuscitated, 
and the opinions of Aristotle and Pliny revived, who 
admitted the existence of these monsters, as well as 
the Norwegian tales of Bishop Pontoppidan, the ac- 
counts of Paul Heggede, and, last of all, the reports 
of Mr. Harrington (whose good faith no one could 
suspect), who affirmed that, being on board the Cas- 
tilian, in 1857, he had seen this enormous serpent, 
which had never until that time frequented any other 
seas but those of the ancient Constitutionnel” 

Then burst forth the interminable controversy be- 
tween the credulous and the incredulous in the socie- 
ties of savants and scientific journals. The question 
of the monster ’’ inflamed all minds. Editors of scien- 
tific journals, quarrelling with believers in the super- 
natural, spilled seas of ink during this memorable 
campaign, some even drawing blood; for, from the 
sea-serpent, they came to direct personalities. 

For six months war was waged with various fortune 
in the leading articles of the Geographical Institution 
of Brazil, the Royal Academy of Science of Berlin, 
the British Association, the Smithsonian Institution of 
Washington, in the discussions of the “ Indian Archi- 
pelago,” of the Cosmos of the Abbé Moigno, in the 
Mittheilungen of Petermann, in the scientific chron- 
icles of the great journals of France and other coun- 
tries. The cheaper journals replied keenly and with 


UNDER THE SEA 


7 


inexhaustible zest. These satirical writers parodied a 
remark of Linnæus, quoted by the adversaries of the 
monster, maintaining “ that nature did not make 
fools,’' and adjured their contemporaries not to give 
the lie to nature, by admitting the existence of krakens, 
sea-serpents, “ Moby Dicks,” and other lucubrations 
of delirious sailors. At length an article in a well- 
known satirical journal by a favourite contributor, the 
chief of the staff, settled the monster, like Hippolytus, 
giving it the death-blow amidst an universal burst of 
laughter. Wit had conquered science. 

During the first months of the year 1867, the ques- 
tion seemed buried never to revive, when new facts 
were brought before the public. It was then no longer 
a scientific problem to be solved, but a real danger 
seriously to be avoided. The question took quite an- 
other shape. The monster became a small island, a 
rock, a reef, but a reef of indefinite and shifting 
proportions. 

On the 5th of March, 1867, the Morcpvîan, of the 
Montreal Ocean Company, finding herself during the 
night in 27° 30' lat. and 72° 15' long., struck on her 
starboard quarter a rock, marked in no chart for that 
part of the sea. Under the combined efforts of the 
wind and its four hundred horse-power, it was going 
at the rate of thirteen knots. Had it not been for the 
superior strength of the hull of the Moravian, she 
would have been broken by the shock and gone down 
with the 237 passengers she was bringing home from 
Canada. 

The accident happened about five o’clock in the 
morning, as the day was breaking. The officers of 
the quarter-deck hurried to the after-part of the vessel. 


8 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


They examined the sea with the most scrupulous atten- 
tion. They saw nothing but a strong eddy about three 
cables’ length distant, as if the surface had been vio- 
lently agitated. The bearings of the place were taken 
exactly, and the Moravian continued its route without 
apparent damage. Had it struck on a submerged rock, 
or on an enormous wreck? they could not tell; but 
on examination of the ship’s bottom when undergoing 
repairs, it was found that part of her keel was broken. 

This fact, so grave in itself, might perhaps have 
been forgotten like many others, if, three weeks after, 
it had not been re-enacted under similar circumstances. 
But, thanks to the nationality of the victim of the 
shock, thanks to the reputation of the company to 
which the vessel belonged, the circumstance became 
extensively circulated. 

The 13th of April, 1867, the sea being beautiful, 
the breeze favourable, the Scotia of the Cunard Com- 
pany’s line, found herself in 15° 12' long, and 45° 37' 
lat. She was going at the speed of thirteen knots and 
a half. 

At seventeen minutes past four in the afternoon, 
whilst the passengers were assembled at lunch in the 
great saloon, a slight shock was felt on the hull of the 
Scotia, on her quarter, a little aft of the port-paddle. 

The Scotia had not struck, but she had been struck, 
and seemingly by something rather sharp and pene- 
trating than blunt. The shock had been so slight that 
no one had been alarmed, had it not been for the 
shouts of the carpenter’s watch, who rushed on to the 
bridge, exclaiming, “ We are sinking ! we are sink- 
ing ! ” At first the passengers were much frightened, 
but Captain Anderson hastened to reassure them. 


UNDER THE SEA 


9 


The danger could not be imminent. The Scotia, di- 
vided into seven compartments by strong partitions, 
could brave with impunity any leak. Captain Ander- 
son went down immediately into the hold. He found 
that the sea was pouring into the fifth compartment; 
and the rapidity of the influx proved that the force of 
the water was considerable. Fortunately this com- 
partment did not hold the boilers, or the fires would 
have been immediately extinguished. Captain Ander- 
son ordered the engines to be stopped at once, and one 
of the men went down to ascertain the extent of the 
injury. Some minutes afterwards they discovered the 
existence of a large hole, of two yards in diameter, in 
the ship's bottom. Such a leak could not be stopped; 
and the Scotia, her paddles half submerged, was 
obliged to continue her course. She was then three 
hundred miles from Cape Clear, and after three days' 
delay, which caused great uneasiness in Liverpool, she 
entered the basin of the company. 

The engineers visited the Scotia, which was put in 
dry dock. They could scarcely believe it possible; at 
two yards and a half below water-mark was a regular 
rent, in the form of an isosceles triangle. The broken 
place in the iron plates was so perfectly defined, that 
it could not have been more neatly done by a punch. 
It was clear, then, that the instrument producing the 
perforation was not of a common stamp; and after 
having been driven with prodigious strength, and 
piercing an iron plate if inches thick, had withdrawn 
itself by a retrograde motion truly inexplicable. 

Such was the last fact, which resulted in exciting 
once more the torrent of public opinion. From this 
moment all unlucky casualties which could not be 


10 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


otherwise accounted for were put down to the monster. 
Upon this imaginary creature rested the responsi- 
bility of all these shipwrecks, which unfortunately 
were considerable; for of three thousand ships whose 
loss was annually recorded at Lloyds’, the number of 
sailing and steam ships supposed to be totally lost, 
from the absence of all news, amounted to not less 
than two hundred ! 

Now, it was the “ monster ” who, justly or unjustly, 
was accused of their disappearance, and, thanks to it, 
communication between the different continents be- 
came more and more dangerous. The public demanded 
peremptorily that the seas should at any price be re- 
lieved from this formidable cetacean. 


CHAPTER II 


PRO AND CON 

At the period when these events took place, I had just 
returned from a scientific research in the disagreeable 
territory of Nebraska, in the United States. In virtue 
of my office as Assistant Professor in the Museum of 
Natural History in Paris, the French Government had 
attached me to that expedition. After six months in 
Nebraska, I arrived in New York towards the end of 
March, laden with a precious collection. My depart- 
ure for France was fixed for the first days in May. 
Meanwhile, I was occupying myself in classifying my 
mineralogical, botanical, and zoological riches, when 
the accident happened to the Scotia. 

I was perfectly up in the subject which wh- the 
question of the day. How could I be otherwise? I 
had read and re-read all the American and European 
papers without being any nearer a conclusion. This 
mystery puzzled me. Under the impossibility of form- 
ing an opinion, I jumped from one extreme to the 
other. That there really was something could not be 
doubted, and the incredulous were invited to put their 
finger on the wound of the Scotia. 

On my arrival at New York, the question was at 
its height. The hypothesis of the floating island, and 
the unapproachable sandbank, supported by minds 
little competent to form a judgment, was abandoned. 


12 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


And, indeed, unless this shoal had a machine in its 
stomach, how could it change its position with such 
astonishing rapidity? 

From the same cause, the idea of a floating hull of 
an enormous wreck was given up. 

There remained then only two possible solutions of 
the question, which created two distinct parties: on 
one side, those who were for a monster of colossal 
strength ; on the other, those who were for a subma- 
rine vessel of enormous motive power. 

But this last hypothesis, plausible as it was, could 
not stand against inquiries made in both worlds. That 
a private gentleman should have such a machine at his 
command was not likely. Where, when, and how was 
it built ? and how could its construction have been kept 
secret? Certainly a Government might possess such 
a destructive machine. And in these disastrous times, 
when the ingenuity of man has multiplied the power 
of weapons of war, it was possible that, without the 
knowledge of others, a state might try to work such a 
formidable engine. After the chassepots came the tor- 
pedoes, after the torpedoes the submarine rams, then 
— the reaction. At least, I hope so. 

But the hypothesis of a war machine fell before the 
declaration of Governments. As public interest was 
in question, and transatlantic communications suffered, 
their veracity could not be doubted. But, how admit 
that the construction of this submarine boat had 
escaped the public eye? For a private gentleman to 
keep the secret under such circumstances would be 
very difficult, and for a state whose every act is persist- 
ently watched by powerful rivals, certainly impos- 
sible. 


UNDER THE SEA 


13 


After inquiries made in England, France, Russia, 
Prussia, Spain, Italy, and America, even in Turkey, 
the hypothesis of a submarine monitor was definitely 
rejected. 

Upon my arrival in New York several persons did 
me the honour of consulting me on the phenomenon 
in question. I had published in France a work in 
quarto, in two volumes, entitled, Mysteries of the 
Great Submarine Grounds.” This book, highly 
approved of in the learned world, gained for me a 
special reputation in this rather obscure branch of 
Natural History. My advice was asked. As long as 
I could deny the reality of the fact, I confined myself 
to a decided negative. But soon finding myself driven 
into a corner, I was obliged to explain myself cate- 
gorically. And even “ the Honourable Pierre Aron- 
nax, Professor in the Museum of Paris,” was called 
upon by the New York Herald to express a definite 
opinion of some sort. I did something. I spoke, for 
want of power to hold my tongue. I discussed the 
question in all its forms, politically and scientifically; 
and I give here an extract from a carefully-studied 
article which I published in the number of the 30th of 
April. It ran as follows: — 

After examining one by one the dififerent hypoth- 
eses, rejecting all other suggestions, it becomes neces- 
sary to admit the existence of a marine animal of 
enormous power. 

The great depths of the ocean are entirely un- 
known to us. Soundings cannot reach them. What 
passes in those remote depths — what beings live, or 
can live, twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of 
the waters — what is the organisation of these animals. 


14 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


we can scarcely conjecture. However, the solution of 
the problem submitted to me may modify the form of 
the dilemma. Either we do know all the varieties of 
beings which people our planet, or we do not. If we 
do not know them all — if Nature has still secrets in 
ichthyology for us, nothing is more conformable to 
reason than to admit the existence of fishes, or ceta- 
ceans of other kinds, or even of new species, of an 
organisation formed to inhabit the strata inaccessible 
to soundings, and which an accident of some sort, 
either fantastical or capricious, has brought at long 
intervals to the upper level of the ocean. 

“ If) on the contrary, we do know all living kinds, 
we must necessarily seek for the animal in question 
amongst those marine beings already classed; and, 
in that case, I should be disposed to admit the exist- 
ence of a gigantic narwhal. 

‘‘ The common narwhal, or unicorn of the sea, often 
attains a length of sixty feet. Increase its size five- 
fold or tenfold, give it strength proportionate to its 
size, lengthen its destructive weapons, and you obtain 
the animal required. It will have the proportions 
determined by the officers of the Shannon, the instru- 
ment required by the perforation of the Scotia, 
and the power necessary to pierce the hull of the 
steamer. 

“ Indeed the narwhal is armed with a sort of ivory 
sword, a halberd, according to the expression of cer- 
tain naturalists. The principal tusk has the hardness 
of steel. Some of these tusks have been found buried 
in the bodies of whales, which the unicorn always 
attacks with success. Others have been drawn out, 
not without trouble, from the bottoms of ships, which 


UNDER THE SEA 


15 


they had pierced through and through, as a gimlet 
pierces a barrel. The Museum of the Faculty of Medi- 
cine of Paris possesses one of these defensive weapons, 
two yards and a quarter in length, and fifteen inches 
in diameter at the base. 

“ Very well ! suppose this weapon to be six times 
stronger, and the animal ten times more powerful; 
launch it at the rate of twenty miles an hour, and you 
obtain a shock capable of producing the catastrophe 
required. Until further information, therefore, I 
shall maintain it to be a sea-unicorn of colossal dimen- 
sions, armed, not with a halberd, but with a real spur, 
as the armoured frigates, or the “rams ” of war, whose 
massiveness and motive power it would possess at the 
same time. Thus may this inexplicable phenomenon 
be explained, unless there be something over and 
above all that one has ever conjectured, seen, per- 
ceived, or experienced; which is just within the 
bounds of possibility.” 

These last words were cowardly on my part; but, 
up to a certain point, I wished to shelter my dignity 
as Professor, and not give too much cause for laughter 
to the Americans, who laugh well when they do 
laugh. 

I reserved for myself a way of escape. In effect, how- 
ever, I admitted the existence of the “ monster.” My 
article was warmly discussed, which procured it a 
high reputation. It rallied round it a certain number 
of partisans. The solution it proposed gave, at least, 
full liberty to the imagination. The human mind de- 
lights in grand conceptions of supernatural beings. 
And the sea is precisely their best vehicle, the only 
medium through which these giants (against which 


i6 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


terrestrial animals, such as elephants or rhinoceroses, 
are as nothing), can be produced or developed. 

The industrial and commercial papers treated the 
question chiefly from this point of view. The Ship-^ 
ping and Mercantile Gazette, the Lloyds' List, the 
Packet-Boat, and the Maritime and Colonial Review, 
all papers devoted to insurance companies which 
threatened to raise their rates of premium, were unani- 
mous on this point. Public opinion had been pro- 
nounced. The United States were the first in the 
field; and in New York they made preparations for 
an expedition destined to pursue this narwhal. A 
frigate of great speed, the Abraham Lincoln, was put 
in commission as soon as possible. The arsenals were 
opened to Commander Farragut, who hastened the 
arming of his frigate; but, as it always happens, the 
moment it was decided to pursue the monster, the 
monster did not appear. For two months no one 
heard it spoken of. No ship met with it. It seemed 
as if this unicorn knew of the plots weaving around 
it. It had been so much talked of, even through the 
Atlantic cable, that jesters pretended that this slender 
fly had stopped a telegram on its passage, and was 
making the most of it. 

So when the frigate had been armed for a long 
campaign, and provided with formidable fishing 
apparatus, no one could tell what course to pursue. 
Impatience grew apace, when, on the 2d of July, they 
learned that a steamer of the line of San Francisco, 
from California to Shanghai, had seen the animal 
three weeks before in the North Pacific Ocean. The 
excitement caused by this news was extreme. The 
ship was revictualled and well stocked with coal. 


UNDER THE SEA 


17 


Three hours before the Abraham Lincoln left 
Brooklyn pier, I received a letter worded as follows : — 

‘^To M. Aronnax, Professor in the Museum of Paris, 

“ Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York. 

“ Sir, — If you will consent to join the Abraham Lincoln 
in this expedition, the Government of the United States will 
with pleasure see France represented in the enterprise. Com- 
mander Farragut has a cabin at your disposal. 

“Very cordially yours, 

“J. B. Hobson, 

“ Secretary of Marine.” 


CHAPTER III 


I FORM MY RESOLUTION 

Three seconds before the arrival of J. B. Hobson’s 
letter, I no more thought of pursuing the unicorn than 
of attempting the passage of the North Sea. Three 
seconds after reading the letter of the honourable 
Secretary of Marine, I felt that my true vocation, the 
sole end of my life, was to chase this disturbing mon- 
ster, and purge it from the world. 

But I had just returned from a fatiguing journey, 
weary and longing for repose. I aspired to nothing 
more than again seeing my country, my friends, my 
little lodging by the Jardin des Plantes, my dear and 
precious collections. But nothing could keep me back ! 
I forgot all — fatigue, friends, and collections — and 
accepted without hesitation the offer of the American 
Government. 

“ Besides,” thought I, ‘‘ all roads lead back to 
Europe (for my particular benefit), and I will not 
hurry me towards the coast of France. This worthy 
animal may allow itself to be caught in the seas of 
Europe (for my particular benefit), and I will not 
bring back less than half a yard of his ivory halberd 
to the Museum of Natural History.” But in the 
meanwhile I must seek this narwhal in the North 
Pacific Ocean, which, to return to France, was taking 
the road to the antipodes. 

Conseil,” I called, in an impatient voice. 


UNDER THE SEA 


19 


Conseil was my servant, a true, devoted Flemish 
boy, who had accompanied me in all my travels. I 
liked him, and he returned the liking well. He was 
phlegmatic by nature, regular from principle, zealous 
from habit, evincing little disturbance at the different 
surprises of life, very quick with his hands, and apt at 
any service required of him; and, despite his name, 
never giving advice — even when asked for it. 

Conseil had followed me for the last ten years wher- 
ever science led. Never once did he complain of the 
length or fatigue of a journey, never make an objec- 
tion to pack his portmanteau for whatever country it 
might be, or however far away, whether China or 
Congo. Besides all this, he had good health, which 
defied all sickness, and solid muscles, but no nerves; 
good morals are understood. This boy was thirty 
years old, and his age to that of his master as fifteen 
to twenty. May I be excused for saying that I was 
forty years old? 

But Conseil had one fault, he was ceremonious to 
a degree, and would never speak to me but in the 
third person, which was sometimes provoking. 

“ Conseil,” said I again, beginning with feverish 
hands to make preparations for my departure. 

Certainly I was sure of this devoted boy. As a rule, 
I never asked him if it were convenient for him or not 
to follow me in my travels ; but this time the expedi- 
tion in question might be prolonged, and the enterprise 
might be hazardous in pursuit of an animal capable 
of sinking a frigate as easily as a nutshell. Here there 
was matter for reflection even to the most impassive 
man in the world. What would Conseil say? 

'' Conseil,” I called a third time. 


20 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Conseil appeared. 

'‘Did you call, sir?’' said he, entering. 

" Yes, my boy ; make preparations for me and your- 
self too. We leave in two hours.” 

"As you please, sir,” replied Conseil, quietly. 

“ Not an instant to lose ; — lock in my trunk all 
travelling utensils, coats, shirts, and stockings — 
without counting, as many as you can, and make 
haste.” 

"And your collections, sir?” observed Conseil. 

" We will think of them by and by.” 

" What ! the archiotherium, the hyracotherium, the 
oreodons, the cheropotamus, and the other skins ? ” 

" They will keep them at the hotel.” 

" And your live Babiroussa, sir ? ” 

" They will feed it during our absence ; besides, I 
will give orders to forward our menagerie to France.” 

"We are not returning to Paris, then?” said Con- 
seil. 

" Oh ! certainly,” I answered, evasively, “by making 
a curve.” 

" Will the curve please you, sir? ” 

" Oh ! it will be nothing ; not quite so direct a road, 
that is all. We take our passage in the Abraham 
Lincoln/' 

"As you think proper, sir,” coolly replied Conseil. 

" You see, my friend, it has to do with the monster 
— the famous narwhal. We are going to purge it 
from the seas. The author of a work in quarto in two 
volumes, on the ' Mysteries of the Great Submarine 
Grounds ’ cannot forbear embarking with Commander 
Farragut. A glorious mission, but a dangerous one! 
We cannot tell where we may go; these animals can 


UNDER THE SEA 


21 


be very capricious. But we will go whether or no; 
we have got a captain who is pretty wideawake.’^ 

I opened a credit account for Babiroussa, and, Con- 
seil following, I jumped into a cab. Our luggage was 
transported to the deck of the frigate immediately. I 
hastened on board and asked for Commander Farra- 
gut. One of the sailors conducted me to the poop, 
where I found myself in the presence of a good-look- 
ing officer, who held out his hand to me. 

“Monsieur Pierre Aronnax?” said he. 

“Himself,” replied I; “Commander Farragut?” 

“ You are welcome. Professor ; your cabin is ready 
for you.” 

I bowed and desired to be conducted to the cabin 
destined for me. 

The Abraham Lincoln had been well chosen and 
equipped for her new destination. She was a frigate 
of great speed, fitted with high-pressure engines which 
admitted a pressure of seven atmospheres. Under this 
the Abraham Lincoln attained the mean speed of 
nearly eighteen knots and a third an hour — a consider- 
able speed, but, nevertheless, insufficient to grapple 
with this gigantic cetacean. 

The interior arrangements of the frigate corre- 
sponded to its nautical qualities. I was well satisfied 
with my cabin, which was in the after part, opening 
upon the gunroom. 

“We shall be well off here,” said I to Conseil. 

“ As well, by your honour’s leave, as a hermit-crab 
in the shell of a whelk,” said Conseil. 

I left Conseil to stow our trunks conveniently away, 
and remounted the poop in order to survey the prepa- 
rations for departure. 


22 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


At that moment Commander Farragut was ordering 
the last moorings to be cast loose which held the 
Abraham Lincoln to the pier of Brooklyn. So in a 
quarter of an hour, perhaps less, the frigate would 
have sailed without me. I should have missed this 
extraordinary, supernatural, and incredible expedi- 
tion, the recital of which may well meet with some 
scepticism. 

But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor 
an hour in scouring the seas in which the animal had 
been sighted. He sent for the engineer. 

“ Is the steam full on ? ” asked he. 

“ Yes, sir,” replied the engineer. 

“ Go ahead,” cried Commander Farragut. 

The quay of Brooklyn, and all that part of New 
York bordering on the East River, was crowded with 
spectators. Three cheers burst successively from five 
hundred thousand throats ; thousands of handker- 
chiefs were waved above the heads of the compact 
mass, saluting the Abraham Lincoln, until she reached 
the waters of the Hudson, at the point of that elon- 
gated peninsula which forms the town of New York. 
Then the frigate, following the coast of New Jersey 
along the right bank of the beautiful river, covered 
with villas, passed between the forts, v/hich saluted 
her with their heaviest guns. The Abraham Lincoln 
answered by hoisting the American colours three 
times, whose thirty-nine stars shone resplendent from 
the mizzen-peak; then modifying its speed to take the 
narrow channel marked by buoys placed in the inner 
bay formed by Sandy Hook Point, it coasted the long 
sandy beach, where some thousands of spectators gave 
it one final cheer. The escort of boats and tenders still 


UNDER THE SEA 


23 


followed the frigate, and did not leave her until they 
came abreast of the lightship, whose two lights 
marked the entrance of New York Channel. 

Six bells struck, the pilot got into his boat, and re- 
joined the little schooner which was waiting under our 
lee, the fires were made up, the screw beat the waves 
more rapidly, the frigate skirted the low yellow coast 
of Long Island; and at eight bells, after having lost 
sight in the north-west of the lights of Fire Island, 
she ran at full steam on to the dark waters of the 
Atlantic. 


J 


CHAPTER lYi 

NED LAND 

Captain Farragut was a good seaman, worthy of 
the frigate he commanded. His vessel and he were 
one. He was the soul of it. On the question of the 
cetacean there was no doubt in his mind, and he 
would not allow the existence of the animal to be dis- 
puted on board. He believed in it, as certain good 
women believe in the leviathan, — ^by faith, not by rea- 
son. The monster did exist, and he had sworn to rid 
the seas of it. He was a kind of Knight of Rhodes, 
a second Dieudonné de Gozon, going to meet the ser- 
pent which desolated the island. Either Captain 
Farragut would kill the narwhal, or the narwhal would 
kill the captain. There was no third course. 

The officers on board shared the opinion of their 
chief. They were ever chatting, discussing, and cal- 
culating the various chances of a meeting, watching 
narrowly the vast surface of the ocean. More than 
one took up his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees, 
who would have cursed such a berth under any other 
circumstances. As long as the sun described its daily 
course, the rigging was crowded with sailors, whose 
feet were burnt to such an extent by the heat of the 
deck as to render it unbearable; still the Abraham 
Lincoln had not yet breasted the suspected waters of 
the Pacific. As to the ship^s company, they desired 


é 


UNDER THE SEA 


25 


nothing better than to meet the unicorn, to harpoon it, 
hoist it on board, and despatch it. They watched the 
sea with eager attention. 

Besides, Captain Farragut had spoken of a certain 
sum of two thousand dollars, set apart for whoever 
should first sight the monster, were he cabin-boy, com- 
mon seaman, or officer. 

I leave you to judge how eyes were used on board 
the Abraham Lincoln. 

For my own part, I was not behind the others, and 
left to no one my share of daily observations. The 
frigate might have been called the Argus, for a hun- 
dred reasons. Only one amongst us. Conseil, seemed 
to protest by his indifference against the question 
which so interested us all, and seemed to be out of 
keeping with the general enthusiasm on board. 

I have said that Captain Farragut had carefully 
provided his ship with every apparatus for catching 
the gigantic cetacean. No whaler had ever been better 
armed. We possessed every known engine, from the 
harpoon thrown by the hand to the barbed arrows of 
the blunderbuss, and the explosive balls of the duck- 
gun. On the forecastle lay the perfection of a breech- 
loading gun, very thick at the breech, and very narrow 
in the bore, the model of which had been in the Exhi- 
bition of 1867. This precious weapon of American 
origin could throw with ease a conical projectile of 
nine pounds to a mean distance of ten miles. 

Thus the Abraham Lincoln wanted for no means of 
destruction; and, what was better still, she had on 
board Ned Land, the prince of harpooners. 

Ned Land was a Canadian, with an uncommon 
quickness of hand, and who knew no equal in his 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


26 


dangerous occupation. Skill, coolness, audacity, and 
cunning, he possessed in a superior degree, and it 
must be a cunning whale or a singularly “ cute ” 
cachalot to escape the stroke of his harpoon. 

Ned Land was about forty years of age; he was a 
tall man (more than six feet high), strongly built, 
grave and taciturn, occasionally violent, and very pas- 
sionate when contradicted. His person attracted atten- 
tion, but above all the boldness of his look, which 
gave a singular expression to his face. 

Who calls himself Canadian calls himself French; 
and little communicative as Ned Land was, I must 
admit that he took a certain liking for me. My nation- 
ality drew him to me, no doubt. It was an opportunity 
for him to talk, and for me to hear, that old language 
of Rabelais, which is still in use in some Canadian 
provinces. The harpooner’s family was originally 
from Quebec, and was already a tribe of hardy fisher- 
men when this town belonged to France. 

Little by little, Ned Land acquired a taste for chat- 
ting, and I loved to hear the recital of his adventures 
in the polar seas. He related his fishing, and his 
combats, with natural poetry of expression ; his recital 
took the form of an epic poem, and I seemed to be 
listening to a Canadian Homer singing the Iliad of 
the regions of the North. 

I am portraying this hardy companion as I really 
knew him. We are old friends now, united in that 
unchangeable friendship which is born and cemented 
amidst extreme dangers. Ah, brave Ned! I ask no 
more than to live a hundred years longer, that I 
may have more time to dwell the longer on your 
memory. 


UNDER THE SEA 


27 


Now, what was Ned Land’s opinion upon the ques- 
tion of the marine monster ? I must admit that he did 
not believe in the unicorn, and was the only one on 
board who did not share that universal conviction. He 
even avoided the subject, which I one day thought it 
my duty to press upon him. One magnificent even- 
ing, the 30th of July — that is to say, three weeks after 
our departure — the frigate was abreast of Cape Blanc, 
thirty miles to leeward of the coast of Patagonia. We 
had crossed the tropic of Capricorn, and the Straits of 
Magellan opened less than seven hundred miles to the 
south. Before eight days were over, the Abra- 
ham Lincoln would be ploughing the waters of the 
Pacific. 

Seated on the poop, Ned Land and I were chatting 
of one thing and another as we looked at this mys- 
terious sea, whose great depths had up to this time 
been inaccessible to the eye of man. I naturally led 
up the conversation to the giant unicorn, and examined 
the various chances of success or failure of the ex- 
pedition. But seeing that Ned Land let me speak 
without saying too much himself, I pressed him more 
closely. 

“ Well, Ned,” said I, “ is it possible that you are 
not convinced of the existence of the cetacean that we 
are following? Have you any particular reason for 
being so incredulous ? ” 

I The harpooner looked at me fixedly for some 
moments before answering, struck his broad forehead 
with his hand (a habit of his), as if to collect himself, 
and said at last, “ Perhaps I have, M. Aronnax.” 

“ But, Ned, you, a whaler by profession, familiarised 
with all the great marine mammalia — ^you, whose 


28 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


imagination might easily accept the hypothesis of enor- 
mous cetaceans, you ought to be the last to doubt 
under such circumstances ! ” 

“ That is just what deceives you, Professor,” replied 
Ned. That the vulgar should believe in extraor- 
dinary comets traversing space, and in the existence 
of antediluvian monsters in the heart of the globe, 
may well be; but neither astronomer nor geologist 
believes in such chimeras. As a whaler I have fol- 
lowed many a cetacean, harpooned a great number, 
and killed several; but however strong or well-armed 
they have been, neither their tails nor their weapons 
would have been able even to scratch the iron plates 
of a steamer.” 

“ But, Ned, they tell of ships which the teeth of the 
narwhal has pierced through and through.” 

Wooden ships — that is possible,” replied the Cana- 
dian ; “ but I have never seen it done ; and, untiJ 
further proof, I deny that whales, cetaceans, or sea- 
unicorns could ever produce the effect you de- 
scribe.” 

“ Well, Ned, I repeat it with a conviction resting on 
the logic of facts. I believe in the existence of a 
mammal powerfully organised, belonging to the 
branch of vertebrata, like the whales, the cachalots, 
or the dolphins, and furnished with a horn of defence 
of great penetrating power.” 

“ Hum ! ” said the harpooner, shaking his head with 
the air of a man who would not be convinced. 

“ Notice one thing, my worthy Canadian,” I re- 
sumed. “If such an animal is in existence, if it 
inhabits the depths of the ocean, if it frequents thç 
strata lying miles below the surface of the water, it 


UNDER THE SEA 


29 


must necessarily possess an organisation the strength 
of which would defy all comparison/* 

“ And why this powerful organisation ? ’* demanded 
Ned. 

Because it requires incalculable strength to keep 
one’s self in these strata and resist their pressure. 
Listen to me. Let us admit that the pressure of the 
atmosphere is represented by the weight of a column 
of water thirty-two feet high. In reality the column 
of water would be shorter, as we are speaking of sea 
water, the density of which is greater than that of 
fresh water. Very well, when you dive, Ned, as many 
times thirty-two feet of water as there are above you, 
so many times does your body bear a pressure equal 
to that of the atmosphere, that is to say, 15 lbs. for 
each square inch of its surface. It follows then, that 
at 320 feet this pressure = that of 10 atmospheres, of 
100 atmospheres at 3200 feet, and of 1000 atmospheres 
at 32,000 feet, that is, about 6 miles; which is equiv- 
alent to saying that, if you could attain this depth 
in the ocean, each square f of an inch of the surface 
of your body would bear a pressure of 5600 lbs. Ah ! 
my brave Ned, do you know how many square inches 
you carry on the surface of your body ? ” 

I have no idea, Mr. Aronnax.” 

“ About 6500 ; and, as in reality the atmospheric 
pressure is about 15 lbs. to the square inch, your 
6500 square inches bear at this moment a pressure 
of 97,500 lbs.” 

“ Without my perceiving it? ” 

“ Without your perceiving it. And if you are not 
crushed by such a pressure, it is because the air pene- 
trates the interior of your body with equal pressure. 


30 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Hence perfect* equilibrium between the interior and 
exterior pressure, which thus neutralise each other, 
and which allows you to bear it without inconvenience. 
But in the water it is another thing.” 

“ Yes, I understand,” replied Ned, becoming more 
attentive ; “ because the water surrounds me, but does 
not penetrate.” 

“Precisely, Ned: so that at 32 feet beneath the 
surface of the sea you would undergo a pressure of 
97,500 lbs. ; at 320 feet, ten times that pressure ; at 
3200 feet, a hundred times that pressure; lastly, at 

32.000 feet, a thousand times that pressure would be 

97.500.000 lbs. — that is to say, that you would be 
flattened as if you had been drawn from the plates 
of a hydraulic machine ! ” 

“ The devil ! ” exclaimed Ned. 

“ Very well, my worthy harpooner, if some verte- 
brate, several hundred yards long, and large in pro- 
portion, can maintain itself in such depths — of those 
whose surface is represented by millions of square 
inches, that is, by tens of millions of pounds, we must 
estimate the pressure they undergo. Consider, then, 
what must be the resistance of their bony structure, 
and the strength of their organisation to withstand 
such pressure ! ” 

“ Why ! ” exclaimed Ned Land, “ they must be made 
of iron plates eight inches thick, like the armoured 
frigates.” 

“ As you say, Ned. And think what destruction 
such a mass would cause, if hurled with the speed of 
an express train against the hull of a vessel.” 

“Yes — certainly — perhaps,” replied the Canadian, 
shaken by these figures, but not yet willing to give in. 


UNDER THE SEA 


31 


“Well, have I convinced you?’’ 

“ You have convinced me of one thing, sir, which 
is that, if such animals do exist at the bottom of the 
seas, they must necessarily be as strong as you say.” 

“ But if they do not exist, mine obstinate harpooner, 
how explain the accident to the Scotia? ” 


CHAPTER V 


AT A VENTURE 

The voyage of the Abraham Lincoln was for a long 
time marked by no special incident. But one circum- 
stance happened which showed the wonderful dexterity 
of Ned Land, and proved what confidence we might 
place in him. 

The 30th of June, the frigate spoke some American 
whalers, from whom we learned that they knew noth- 
ing about the narwhal. But one of them, the captain 
of the Monroe, knowing that Ned Land had shipped 
on board the Abraham Lincoln, begged for his help 
in chasing a whale they had in sight. Commander 
Farragut, desirous of seeing Ned Land at work, gave 
him permission to go on board the Monroe, And 
fate served our Canadian so well that, instead of one 
whale, he harpooned two with a double blow, striking 
one straight to the heart, and catching the other after 
some minutes’ pursuit. 

Decidedly, if the monster ever had to do with Ned 
Land’s harpoon, I would not bet in its favour. 

The frigate skirted the south-east coast of America 
with great rapidity. The 3d of July we were at the 
opening of the Straits of Magellan, level with Cape 
Vierges. But Commander Farragut would not take 
a tortuous passage, but doubled Cape Horn. 

The ship’s crew agreed with him. And certainly 


UNDER THE SEA 


33 


it was possible that they might meet the narwhal in 
this narrow pass. Many of the sailors affirmed that 
the monster could not pass there, “ that he was too 
big for that ! ” 

The 6th of July, about three o’clock in the after- 
noon, the Abraham Lincoln, at fifteen rhiles to the 
south, doubled the solitary island, this lost rock at the 
extremity of the American continent, to which some 
Dutch sailors gave the name of their native town. 
Cape Horn. The course was taken towards the north- 
west, and the next day the screw of the frigate was 
at last beating the waters of the Pacific. 

“ Keep your eyes open ! ” called out the sailors. 

And they were opened widely. Both eyes and 
glasses, a little dazzled, it is true, by the prospect of 
two thousand dollars, had not an instant’s repose. 
Day and night they watched the surface of the ocean, 
and even nyctalopes, whose faculty of seeing in the 
darkness multiplies their chances a hundredfold, 
would have had enough to do to gain the prize. 

I myself, for whom money had no charms, was 
not the least attentive on board. Giving but few 
minutes to my meals, but a few hours to sleep, indif- 
ferent to either rain or sunshine, I did not leave the 
poop of the vessel. Now leaning on the netting of 
the forecastle, now on the taffrail, I devoured with 
eagerness the soft foam which whitened the sea as far 
as the eye could reach ; and how often have I shared 
the emotion of the majority of the crew, when some 
capricious whale raised its black back above the waves ! 
The poop of the vessel was crowded in a moment. 
The cabins poured forth a torrent of sailors and 
officers, each with heaving breast and troubled eye 


34 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


watching the course of the cetacean. I looked, and 
looked, till I was nearly blind, whilst Conseil, always 
phlegmatic, kept repeating in a calm voice: 

If, sir, you would not squint so much, you would 
see better ! ” 

But vain excitement! the Abraham Lincoln checked 
its speed and made for the animal signalled, a simple 
whale, or common cachalot, which soon disappeared 
amidst a storm of execration. 

But the weather was good. The voyage was being 
accomplished under the most favourable auspices. It 
was then the bad season in Australia, the July of that 
zone corresponding to our January in Europe ; but the 
sea was beautiful and easily scanned round a vast 
circumference. 

The 20th July, the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 
105° of longitude, and the 27th of the same month we 
crossed the equator on the noth meridian. This 
passed, the frigate took a more decided westerly di- 
rection, and scoured the central waters of the Pacific. 
Commander Farragut thought, and with reason, that 
it was better to remain in deep water, and keep clear 
of continents or islands, which the beast itself seemed 
to shun (perhaps because there was not enough water 
for him! suggested the greater part of the crew). 
The frigate passed at some distance from Marquesas 
and the Sandwich Islands, crossed the tropic of Can- 
cer, and made for the China Seas. We were on the 
theatre of the last diversions of the monster; and to 
say truth, we no longer lived on board. Hearts palpi- 
tated, fearfully preparing themselves for future in- 
curable aneurism. The entire ship’s crew were under- 
going a nervous excitement, of which I can give no 


UNDER THE SEA 


35 


idea : they could not eat, they could not sleep— twenty 
times a day, a misconception or an optical illusion of 
some sailor seated on the taffrail, would cause dread- 
ful perspirations, and these emotions, twenty times 
repeated, kept us in a state of excitement so violent 
that a reaction was unavoidable. 

And truly, reaction soon showed itself. For three > 
months, during which a day seemed an age, the'’. 
Abraham Lincoln furrowed all the waters of the 
Northern Pacific, running at whales, making sharp 
deviations from her course, veering suddenly from 
one tack to another, stopping suddenly, putting on 
steam, and backing ever and anon at the risk of de- 
ranging her machinery; and not one point of the 
Japanese or American coast was left unexplored. 

The warmest partisans of the enterprise now be- 
came its most ardent detractors. Reaction mounted 
from the crew to the captain himself, and certainly, 
had it not been for resolute determination on the part 
of Captain Farragut, the frigate would have headed 
due southward. This useless search could not last 
much longer. The Abraham Lincoln had nothing to 
reproach herself with, she had done her best to suc- 
ceed. Never had an American ship’s crew shown 
more zeal or patience; its failure could not be placed 
to their charge — there remained nothing but to return. 

This was represented to the commander. The sail- 
ors could not hide their discontent, and the service 
suffered. I will not say there was a mutiny on board, 
but after a reasonable period of obstinacy. Captain 
Farragut (as Columbus did) asked for three days’ 
patience. If in three days the monster did not appear, 
the man at the helm should give three turns of the 


36 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


wheel, and the Abraham Lincoln would make for the 
European seas. 

This promise was made on the 2d of November. 
It had the effect of rallying the ship’s crew. The 
ocean was watched with renewed attention. Each 
one wished for a last glance in which to sum up his 
remembrance. Glasses were used with feverish 
activity. It was a grand defiance given to the giant 
narwhal, and he could scarcely fail to answer the 
summons and “ appear.” 

Two days passed, the steam was at half pressure; 
a thousand schemes were tried to attract the attention 
and stimulate the apathy of the animal in case it should 
be met in those parts. Large quantities of bacon were 
trailed in the wake of the ship, to the great satisfaction 
(I must say) of the sharks. Small craft radiated 
in all directions round the Abraham Lincoln as she lay 
to, and did not leave a spot of the sea unexplored. 
But the night of the 4th of November arrived without 
the unveiling of this submarine mystery. 

The next day, the 5th of November, at twelve the 
delay would (morally speaking) expire; after that 
time, Commander Farragut, faithful to his promise^ 
was to turn the course to the south-east and abandor 
for ever the northern regions of the Pacific. 

The frigate was then in 31° 15' north latitude and 
136° 42' east longitude. The coast of Japan still re- 
mained less than two hundred miles to leeward. 
Night was approaching. They had just struck eight 
bells; large clouds veiled the face of the moon, then 
in its first quarter. The sea undulated peaceably 
under the stern of the vessel. 

At that moment I was leaning forward on the star- 


UNDER THE SEA 


Z7 


board netting. Conseil, standing near me, was look- 
ing straight before him. The crew, perched in the 
ratlines, examined the horizon, which contracted and 
darkened by degrees. Officers with their night glasses 
scoured the growing darkness; sometimes the ocean 
sparkled under the rays of the moon, which darted 
between two clouds, then all trace of light was lost 
in the darkness. 

In looking at Conseil, I could see he was undergoing 
a little of the general influence. At least I thought 
so. Perhaps for the first time his nerves vibrated 
to a sentiment of curiosity. 

‘‘ Come, Conseil,” said I, this is the last chance 
of pocketing the two thousand dollars.” 

“ May I be permitted to say, sir,” replied Conseil, 
“ that I never reckoned on getting the prize ; and, had 
the government of the Union offered a hundred thou- 
sand dollars, it would have been none the poorer.” 

“ You are right. Conseil. It is a foolish affair after 
all, and one upon which we entered too lightly. What 
time lost, what useless emotions! We should have 
been back in France six months ago.” 

‘‘ In your little room, sir,” replied Conseil, and 
in your museum, sir, and I should have already classed 
all your fossils, sir. And the Babiroussa would have 
been installed in its cage in the Jardin des Plantes, 
and have drawn all the curious people of the capital ! ” 

“ As you say. Conseil. I fancy we will run a fair 
chance of being laughed at for our pains.” 

“ That’s tolerably certain,” replied Conseil, quietly ; 

I think they will make fun of you, sir. And, must 
I say it?” 

“ Go on, my good friend.” 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Well, sir, you will only get your deserts.” 

“ Indeed!” 

“ When one has the honour of being a savant as 
you are, sir, one should not expose one’s self to ” 

Conseil had not time to finish his compliment. In 
the midst of general silence a voice had just been 
heard. It was the voice of Ned Land shouting — 
Look out there ! the very thing we are looking 
for — on our weather beam ! ” 


CHAPTER VI 


AT FULL STEAM 

At this cry the whole ship’s crew hurried towards 
the harpooner, — commander, officers, masters, sailors, 
cabin boys; even the engineers left their engines, and 
the stokers their furnaces. 

The order to stop her had been given, and the frigate 
now simply went on by her own momentum. The 
darkness was then profound, and however good the 
Canadian’s eyes were, I asked myself how he had 
managed to see, and what he had been able to see. 
My heart beat as if it would break. But Ned Land 
was not mistaken, and we all perceived the object he 
pointed to. At two cables’ lengths from the Abraham 
Lincoln, on the starboard quarter, the sea seemed to 
be illuminated all over. It was not a mere phosphoric 
phenomenon. The monster emerged some fathoms 
from the water, and then threw out that very intense 
but inexplicable light mentioned in the report of 
several captains. This magnificent irradiation must 
have been produced by an agent of great shining 
I power. The luminous part traced on the sea an im- 
mense oval, much elongated, the centre of which con- 
densed a burning heat, whose overpowering brilliancy 
died out by successive gradations. 

“ It is only an agglomeration of phosphoric par- 
ticles,” cried one of the officers. 


40 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


No, sir, certainly not,” I replied. “ Never did 
pholades or salpæ produce such a powerful light. 
That brightness is of an essentially electrical nature. 
Besides, see, see! it moves; it is moving forwards, 
backwards, it is darting towards us ! ” 

A general cry rose from the frigate. 

“ Silence ! ” said the Captain ; “ up with the helm, 
reverse the engines.” 

The steam was shut off, and the Abraham Lincoln, 
beating to port, described a semicircle. 

“ Right the helm, go ahead,” cried the Captain. 

These orders were executed, and the frigate moved 
rapidly from the burning light. 

I was mistaken. She tried to sheer off, but the 
supernatural animal approached with a velocity double 
her own. 

We gasped for breath. Stupefaction more than 
fear made us dumb and motionless. The animal 
gained on us, sporting with the waves. It made the 
round of the frigate, which was then making fourteen 
knots, and enveloped it with its electric rings like 
luminous dust. Then it moved away two or three 
miles, leaving a phosphorescent track, like those 
volumes of steam that the express trains leave behind. 
All at once from the dark line of the horizon whither 
it retired to gain its momentum, the monster rushed 
suddenly towards the Abraham Lincoln with alarming 
rapidity, stopped suddenly about twenty feet from 
the hull, and died out, — not diving under the water, 
for its brilliancy did not abate, — but suddenly, and as 
if the source of this brilliant emanation was exhausted. 
Then it reappeared on the other side of the vessel, as 
if it had turned and slid under the hull. Any moment 


UNDER THE SEA 


41 


a collision might have occurred which would have 
been fatal to us. However, I was astonished at the 
manoeuvres of the frigate. She fled and did not at- 
tack. 

On the captain’s face, generally so impassive, was an 
expression of unaccountable astonishment. 

“ Mr. Arronax,” he said, I do not know with 
what formidable being I have to deal, and I will not 
imprudently risk my frigate in the midst of this dark- 
ness. Besides, how attack this unknown thing, how 
defend one’s self from it. Wait for daylight, and the 
scene will change.” 

“ You have no further doubt, captain, of the nature 
of the animal?” 

“ No, sir; it is evidently a gigantic narwhal, and an 
electric one.” 

** Perhaps,” added I, “ one can only approach it 
with a gymnotus or a torpedo.” 

‘‘ Undoubtedly,” replied the captain, “ if it possesses 
such dreadful power, it is the most terrible animal that 
ever was created. That is why, sir, I must be on my 
guard.” 

The crew were on their feet all night. No one 
thought of sleep. The Abraham Lincoln, not being 
able to struggle with such velocity, had moderated its 
pace, and sailed at half speed. For its part, the nar- 
whal, imitating the frigate, let the waves rock it at 
will, and seemed decided not to leave the scene of the 
struggle. Towards midnight, however, it disap- 
peared, or, to use a more appropriate term, it “ died 
out” like a large glow-worm. Had it fled? One 
could only fear, not hope. But at seven minutes to 
one o’clock in the morning a deafening whistling was 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


i2 


heard, like that produced by a body of water rushing 
with great violence. 

The captain, Ned Land, and I, were then on the 
poop, eagerly peering through the profound dark- 
ness. 

“ Ned Land,” asked the commander, you have 
often heard the roaring of whales ? ” 

Often, sir ; but never such whales the sight of 
which brought me in two thousand dollars. If I can 
only approach within four harpoon lengths of it ! ” 

“ But to approach it,” said the commander, “ I ought 
to put a whaler at your disposal ? ” 

“ Certainly, sir.” 

“ That will be trifling with the lives of my men.” 

" And mine too,” simply said the harpooner. 

Towards two o’clock in the morning, the burning 
light reappeared, not less intense, about five miles to 
windward of the Abraham Lincoln. Notwithstanding 
the distance, and the noise of the wind and sea, one 
heard distinctly the loud strokes of the animal’s tail, 
and even its panting breath. It seemed that, at the 
moment that the enormous narwhal had come to take 
breath at the surface of the water, the air was 
engulphed in its lungs, like the steam in the vast 
cylinders of a machine of two thousand horse-power. 

“ Hum ! ” thought I, “ a whale with the strength 
of a cavalry regiment would be a pretty whale ! ” 

We were on the qui vive till daylight, and prepared 
for the combat. The fishing implements were laid 
along the hammock nettings. The second lieutenant 
loaded the blunderbusses, which could throw harpoons 
to the distance of a mile, and long duck-guns, with 
explosive bullets, which inflicted mortal wounds even 


UNDER THE SEA 


43 


to the most terrible animals. Ned Land contented 
himself with sharpening his harpoon — a terrible 
weapon in his hands. 

At six o’clock day began to break; and with the 
first glimmer of light, the electric light of the narwhal 
disappeared. At seven o’clock the day was sufficiently 
advanced, but a very thick sea fog obscured our view, 
and the best spy-glasses could not pierce it. That 
caused disappointment and anger. 

I climbed the mizzen-mast. Some officers were al- 
ready perched on the mast heads. At eight o’clock 
the fog lay heavily on the waves, and its thick scrolls 
rose little by little. The horizon grew wider and 
clearer at the same time. Suddenly, just as on the day 
before, Ned Land’s voice was heard: 

“ The thing itself on the port quarter ! ” cried the 
harpooner. 

Every eye was turned towards the point .indicated. 
There, a mile and a half from the frigate, a long 
blackish body emerged a yard above the waves. Its 
tail, violently agitated, produced a considerable eddy. 
Never did a caudal appendage beat the sea with such 
violence. An immense track, of a dazzling whiteness, 
marked the passage of the animal, and described a 
long curve. 

The frigate approached the cetacean. I examined 
it thoroughly. 

The reports of the Shannon and of the Helvetia had 
rather exaggerated its size, and I estimated its length 
at only two hundred and fifty feet. As to its dimen- 
sions, I could only conjecture them to be admirably 
proportioned. While I watched this phenomenon, 
two jets of steam and water were ejected from its 


44 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


vents, and rose to the height of 120 feet, thus I as- 
certained its way of breathing. I concluded definitely 
that it belonged to the vertebrate branch, class mam- 
malia. 

The crew waited impatiently for their chief’s orders. 
The latter, after having observed the animal atten- 
tively, called the engineer. The engineer ran to him. 

“ Sir,” said the commander, “ you have steam up ? ” 

“ Yes, sir,” answered the engineer. 

“ Well, make up your fires and put on all steam.” 

Three hurrahs greeted this order. The time for the 
struggle had arrived. Some moments after, the two 
funnels of the frigate vomited torrents of black smoke, 
and the bridge quaked under the trembling of the 
boilers. 

The AbraJtam Lincoln, propelled by her powerful 
screw, went straight at the animal. The latter allowed 
it to come within half a cable’s length; then, as if 
disdaining to dive, it took a little turn, and stopped 
a short distance off. 

This pursuit lasted nearly three-quarters of an hour, 
without the frigate gaining two yards on the cetacean. 
It was quite evident that at that rate we should never 
come up with it. 

“Well, Mr. Land,” asked the captain, “do you 
advise me to put the boats out to sea ? ” 

“ No, sir,” replied Ned Land ; “ because we shall 
not take that beast easily.” 

“ What shall we do then ? ” 

“ Put on more steam if you can, sir. With your 
leave, I mean to post myself under the bowsprit, and 
if we get within harpooning distance I shall throw my 
harpoon.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


45 


“ Go, Ned,” said the captain. Engineer, put on 
more pressure.” 

Ned Land went to his post. The fires were in- 
creased, the screw revolved forty-three times a minute, 
and the steam poured out of the valves. We heaved 
the log, and calculated that the Abraham Lincoln 
was going at the rate of i8^ miles an hour. 

But the accursed animal swam too at the rate of 
i8J miles. 

For a whole hour, the frigate kept up this pace, 
without gaining six feet. It was humiliating for one 
of the swiftest sailers in the American navy. A 
stubborn anger seized the crew ; the sailors abused the 
monster, who, as before, disdained to answer them; 
the captain no longer contented himself with twisting 
his beard — he gnawed it. 

The engineer was again called. 

You have turned full steam in?” 

Yes, sir,” replied the engineer. 

The speed of the Abraham Lincoln increased. Its 
masts trembled down to their stepping holes, and the 
clouds of smoke could hardly find way out of the nar- 
row funnels. 

They heaved the log a second time. 

“ Well ? ” asked the captain of the man at the wheel. 

Nineteen miles and three-tenths, sir.” 

‘‘ Clap on more steam.” 

The engineer obeyed. The manometer showed ten 
degrees. But the cetacean grew warm itself, no 
doubt ; for without straining itself it made lÿ^io miles. 

What a pursuit! No, I cannot describe the emotion 
that vibrated through me. Ned Land kept his post, 
harpoon in hand. Several times the animal let us gain 


46 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


upon it — '‘We shall catch it! we shall catch it!*’ 
cried the Canadian. But just as he was going to 
strike, the cetacean stole away with a rapidity that 
could not be estimated at less than thirty miles an 
hour, and even during our maximum of speed, it 
bullied the frigate, going round and round it. A cry 
of fury broke from every one! 

At noon we were no further advanced than at eight 
o’clock in the morning. 

The captain then decided to take mort direct means. 

“ Ah ! ” said he, “ that animal goes quicker than 
the Abraltam Lincoln. Very well ! we will see 
whether it will escape these conical bullets. Send 
your men to the forecastle, sir.” 

The forecastle gun was immediately loaded and 
slewed round. But the shot passed some feet above 
the cetacean, which was half a mile off. 

“ Another more to the right,” cried the commander, 
"and five dollars to whoever will hit that infernal 
beast.” 

An old gunner with a grey beard — that I can see 
now — with steady eye and grave face, went up to the 
gun and took a long aim. A loud report was heard, 
with which were mingled the cheers of the crew. 

The bullet did its work; it hit the animal, but not 
fatally, and sliding off the rounded surface, was 
lost in two miles depth of sea. 

The chase began again, and the captain leaning 
towards me, said 

" I will pursue that beast till my frigate bursts up.” 

"Yes,” answered I; "and you will be quite right 
to do it.” 

I wished the beast would exhaust itself, and not be 



• • • 


An old gray-bearded gunner 

















UNDER THE SEA 


47 


insensible to fatigue like a steam engine ! But it was 
of no use. Hours passed, without its showing any 
signs of exhaustion. 

However, it must be said in praise of the Abraham 
Lincoln, that she struggled on indefatigably. I can- 
not reckon the distance she made under three hundred 
miles during this unlucky day, November the 6th. 
But night came on, and overshadowed the rough 
ocean. 

Now I thought our expedition was at an end, and 
that we should never again see the extraordinary 
animal. I was mistaken. At ten minutes to eleven 
in the evening the electric light reappeared three miles 
to windward of the frigate, as pure, as intense as dur- 
ing the preceding night. 

The narwhal seemed motionless ; perhaps, tired with 
its day’s work, it slept, letting itself float with the 
undulation of the waves. Now was a chance of which 
the captain resolved to take advantage. 

^ He gave his orders. The Abraham Lincoln kept up 
half steam, and advanced cautiously so as not to awake 
its adversary. It is no rare thing to meet in the mid- 
dle of the ocean whales so sound asleep that they can 
be successfully attacked, and Ned Land had harpooned 
more than one during its sleep. The Canadian went 
to take his place under the bowsprit. 

The frigate approached noiselessly, stopped at two 
cables’ lengths from the animal, and following its 
track. No one breathed; a deep silence reigned on 
the bridge. We were not a hundred feet from the 
burning focus, the light of which increased and daz- 
zled our eyes. 

At this moment, leaning on the forecastle bulwark. 


s 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I saw below me Ned Land grappling the martingale 
in one hand, brandishing his terrible harpoon in the 
other, scarcely twenty feet from the motionless animal. 
Suddenly his arm straightened, and the harpoon was 
thrown; I heard the sonorous stroke of the weapon, 
which seemed to have struck a hard body. The 
electric light went out suddenly, and two enormous 
waterspouts broke over the bridge of the frigate, 
rushing like a torrent from stem to stern, overthrow- 
ing men, and breaking the lashing of the spars. A 
fearful shock followed, and, thrown over the rail with- 
out having time to stop myself. I fell into the sea. 


CHAPTER VII 


AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE 

This unexpected fall so stunned me that I have no 
clear recollection of my sensations at the time. I was 
at first drawn down to a depth of about twenty feet. 
I am a good swimmer (though without pretending to 
rival Byron or Edgar Poe, who were masters of the 
art), and in that plunge I did not lose my presence of 
mind. Two vigorous strokes brought me to the sur- 
face of the water. My first care was to look for the 
frigate. Had the crew seen me disappear? Had the 
Abraham Lincoln veered round? Would the captain 
put out a boat? Might I hope to be saved? 

The darkness was intense. I caught a glimpse of a 
black mass disappearing in the east, its beacon lights 
dying out in the distance. It was the frigate ! I was 
lost. 

'' Help, Help ! ” I shouted, swimming towards the 
Abraham Lincoln in desperation. 

My clothes encumbered me; they seemed glued to 
my body, and paralysed my movements. 

I was sinking! I was suffocating! 

Help!’^ 

This was my last cry. My mouth filled with water ; 
I struggled against being drawn down the abyss. 
Suddenly my clothes were seized by a strong hand, 
and I felt myself drawn up to the surface of the sea; 


50 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


and I heard, yes, I heard these words pronounced in 
my ear — 

If master would be so good as to lean on my 
shoulder, master would swim with much greater ease.’' 

I seized with one hand my faithful Conseils arm. 

Is it you ? ” said I, you ? " 

‘‘ Myself," answered Conseil ; and waiting master’s 
orders.’’ 

That shock threw you as well as me into the sea? ’’ 

“No ; but being in my master’s service, I followed 
him.’’ 

The worthy fellow thought that was but natural. 

“ And the frigate ? ’’ I asked. 

“The frigate?’’ replied Conseil, turning on his 
back ; “ I think that master had better not count too 
much on her.’’ 

“You think so?" 

“ I say that, at the time I threw myself into the sea, 
I heard the men at the wheel say, ‘ The screw and the 
rudder are broken.’ ’’ 

“ Broken?’’ 

“ Yes, broken by the monster’s teeth. It is the 
only injury the Abraham Lincoln has sustained. But 
it is bad look out for us — she no longer answers her 
helm.’’ 

“ Then we are lost ! " 

“ Perhaps so,’’ calmly answered Conseil. “ How- 
ever, we have still several hours before us, and one 
can do a good deal in some hours.’’ 

Conseil’s imperturbable coolness set me up again. 

I swam more vigorously ; but, cramped by my clothes, 
which stuck to me like a leaden weight, I felt great 
difficulty in bearing up. Conseil saw this. 


UNDER THE SEA 


51 


“ Will master let me make a slit ? ” said he ; and 
slipping an open knife under my clothes, he ripped 
them up from top to bottom very rapidly. Then he 
cleverly slipped them off me, while I swam for both 
of us. 

Then I did the same for Conseil, and we continued 
to swim near to each other. 

Nevertheless, our situation was no less terrible. 
Perhaps our disappearance had not been noticed; and 
if it had been, the frigate could not tack, being with- 
out its helm. Conseil argued on this supposition, and 
laid his plans accordingly. This phlegmatic boy was 
perfectly self-possessed. We then decided that, as 
our only chance of safety was being picked up by the 
Abraham Lincoln's boats, we ought to manage so as 
to wait for them as long as possible. I resolved then 
to husband our strength, so that both should not be 
exhausted at the same time; and this is how we man- 
aged : while one of us lay on our back, quite still, with 
arms crossed, and legs stretched out, the other would 
swim and push the other on in front. This towing 
business did not last more than ten minutes each ; and 
relieving each other thus, we could swim on for some 
hours, perhaps till daybreak. Poor chance! but hope 
is so firmly rooted in the heart of man! Moreover, 
there were two of us. Indeed I declare (though it 
may seem improbable) if I sought to destroy all hope, 
— if I wished to despair, I could not. 

The collision of the frigate with the cetacean had 
occurred about eleven o’clock the evening before. I 
reckoned then we should have eight hours to swim 
before sunrise, an operation quite practicable if we 
relieved each other. The sea, very calm, was in our 


52 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


favour. Sometimes I tried to pierce the intense dark- 
ness that was only dispelled by the phosphorescence 
caused by our movements. I watched the luminous 
waves that broke over my hand, whose mirror-like 
surface was spotted with silvery rings. One might 
have said that we were in a bath of quicksilver. 

Near one o’clock in the, morning, I was seized with 
dreadful fatigue. My limb^ssj:iffened under the strain 
of violent cramp. Conseil was'^liged to keep me up, 
and our preservation devolved on lik^ alone. I heard 
the poor boy pant; his breathing became short and 
hurried. I found that he could not keep up much 
longer. 

“ Leave me ! leave me ! ” I said to him. 

“ Leave my master ? never ! ” replied he. I would 
drown first.” 

Just then the moon appeared through the fringes 
of a thick cloud that the wind was driving to the 
east. The surface of the sea glittered with its rays. 
This kindly light reanimated us. My head got bet- 
ter again. I looked at all the points of the horizon. 
I saw the frigate! She was five miles from us, and 
looked like a dark mass, hardly discernible. But no 
boats ! 

I would have cried out. But what good would it 
have been at such a distance! My swollen lips could 
utter no sounds. Conseil f ould articulate some words, 
and I heard him repeat at intervals. Help ! help ! ” 

Our movements were suspended for an instant; we 
listened. It might be only a singing in the ear, but 
It seemed to me as if a cry answered the cry from 
Conseil. 

“ Did you hear ?” I murmured. 


UNDER THE SEA 


53 


“Yes! yes!’’ 

And Conseil gave one more despairing call. 

This time there was no mistake! A human voice 
responded to ours! Was it the voice of another un- 
fortunate creature, abandoned in the middle of the 
ocean, some other victim of the shock sustained by 
the vessel? Or rather was it a boat from the frigate, 
that was hailing us in the darkness? 

Conseil made a last effort, and leaning on my 
shoulder, while I struck out in a despairing effort, 
he raised himself half out of the water, then fell back 
exhausted. 

“ What did you see? ” 

“ I saw ” — murmured he ; “I saw — ^but do not 
talk — reserve all your strength ! ” 

What had he seen? Then, I know not why, the 
thought of the monster came into my head for the 
first time! But that voice? The time is past for 
Jonahs to take refuge in whales’ bellies! However, 
Conseil was towing me again. He raised his head 
sometimes, looked before us, and uttered a cry of 
recognition, which was responded to by a voice that 
came nearer and nearer. I scarcely heard it. My 
strength was exhausted; my fingers stiffened; my 
hand afforded me support no longer; my mouth, con- 
vulsively opening, filled with salt water. Cold crept 
over me. I raised my head for the last time, then 
I sank. 

At this moment a hard body struck me. I clung 
to it: then I felt that I was being drawn up, that I 
was brought to the surface of the water, that my chest 
collapsed: — I fainted. 

It is certain that I soon came to, thanks to the 


54 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


vigorous rubbings that I received. I half opened my 
eyes. 

“ Conseil ! ” I murmured. 

‘‘ Does master call me ? ’’ asked Conseil. 

Just then, by the waning light of the moon, which 
was sinking down to the horizon, I saw a face which 
was not Conseil's and which I immediately recog- 
nised. 

“Ned!” I cried. 

“ The same, sir, who is seeking his prize ! ” replied 
the Canadian. 

“ Were you thrown into the sea by the shock of the 
frigate ? ” 

“Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I 
was able to find a footing almost directly upon a 
floating island.” 

“An island?” 

“ Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic nar- 
whal.” 

“ Explain yourself, Ned ! ” 

“ Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not 
entered its skin and was only blunted.” 

“Why, Ned, why?” 

“Because, Professor, that beast is made of sheet 
iron.” 

The Canadian’s last words produced a sudden revo- 
lution in my brain. I wriggled myself quickly to the 
top of the being, or object, half out of the water, 
which served us for a refuge. I kicked it. It was 
evidently a hard impenetrable body, and not the soft 
substance that forms the bodies of the great marine 
mammalia. But this hard body might be a bony 
carapace, like that of the antediluvian animals; and 


UNDER THE SEA 


55 


I should be free to class this monster among am- 
phibious reptiles, such as tortoises or alligators. 

Well, no! the blackish back that supported me was 
smooth, polished, without scales. The blow produced 
a metallic sound; and incredible though it may be, 
it seemed, I might say, as if it was made of riveted 
plates. 

There was no doubt about it! this monster, this 
natural phenomenon that had puzzled the learned 
world, and overthrown and misled the imagination 
of seamen of both hemispheres, was, it must be owned, 
a still more astonishing phenomenon, inasmuch as it 
was a simply human construction. 

We had no time to lose, however. We were lying 
upon the back of a sort of submarine boat, which 
appeared (as far as I could judge) like a huge fish 
of steel. Ned Land’s mind was made up on this 
point. Conseil and I could only agree with him. 

Just then a bubbling began at the back of this 
strange thing (which was evidently propelled by a 
screw), and it began to move. We had only just time 
to seize hold of the upper part, which rose about seven 
feet out of the water, and happily its speed was not 
great. 

‘‘ As long as it sails horizontally,” muttered Ned 
Land, “ I do not mind ; but if it takes a fancy to 
dive, I would not give two straws for my life.” 

The Canadian might have said still less. It be- 
came really necessary to communicate with the beings, 
whatever they were, shut up inside the machine. I 
searched all over the outside for an aperture, a panel 
or a man-hole, to use a technical expression; but the 
lines of the iron rivets, solidly driven into the joints 


56 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of the iron plates, were clear and uniform. Besides, 
the moon disappeared then, and left us in total dark- 
ness. 

At last this long night passed. My indistinct re- 
membrance prevents my describing all the impres- 
sions it made. I can only recall one circumstance. 
During some lulls of the wind and sea, I fancied I 
heard several times vague sounds, a sort of fugitive 
harmony produced by distant words of command. 
What was then the mystery of this submarine craft, 
of which the whole world vainly sought an explana- 
tion? What kind of beings existed in this strange 
boat? What mechanical agent caused its prodigious 
speed ? 

Daybreak appeared. The morning mists sur- 
rounded us, but they soon cleared off. I was about 
to examine the hull, which formed on deck a kind of 
horizontal platform, when I felt it gradually sinking. 

“ Oh ! confound it ! cried Ned Land, kiclrng the 
resounding plate ; “ open, you inhospitable rascals ! 

Happily the sinking movement ceased. Suddenly 
a noise, like iron works violently pushed aside, came 
from the interior of the boat. One iron plate was 
moved, a man appeared, uttered an odd cry, and disap- 
peared immediately. 

Some moments after, eight strong men, with masked 
faces, appeared noiselessly, and drew us down into 
their formidable machine. 


CHAPTER VIII 


MOBILIS IN MOBILI 

This forcible abduction, so roughly carried out, was 
accomplished with the rapidity of lightning. I shivered 
all over. Whom had we to deal with? No doubt 
Some new sort of pirates, who explored the sea in their 
own way. 

Hardly had the narrow panel closed upon me, when 
I was enveloped in darkness. My eyes, dazzled with 
the outer light, could distinguish nothing. I felt my 
naked feet cling to the rings of an iron ladder. Ned 
Land and Conseil, firmly seized, followed me. At the 
bottom of the ladder, a door opened, and shut after 
us immediately with a bang. 

We were alone. Where, I could not say, hardly 
imagine. All was black, and such a dense black that, 
after some minutes, my eyes had not been able to dis- 
cern even the faintest glimmer. 

Meanwhile, Ned Land, furious at these proceedings, 
gave free vent to his indignation. 

“ Confound it ! ” cried he, “ here are people who 
come up to the Scotch for hospitality. They only just 
miss being cannibals. I should not be surprised at it, 
but I declare that they shall not eat me without my 
protesting.’^ 

‘‘ Calm yourself, friend Ned, calm yourself,” replied 
Conseil, quietly. “ Do not cry out before you are 
hurt. We are not quite done for yet.” 


58 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Not quite,” sharply replied the Canadian, ‘‘ but 
pretty near, at all events. Things look black. Hap- 
pily, my bowie-knife I have still, and I can always see 
well enough to use it. The first of these pirates who 
lays a hand on me ” 

“ Do not excite yourself, Ned,” I said to the har- 
pooner, “ and do not compromise us by useless vio- 
lence. Who knows that they will not listen to us ? Let 
us rather try to find out where we are.” 

I groped about. In five steps I canre to an iron wall, 
made of plates bolted together. Then turning back 
I struck against a wooden table, near which were 
ranged several stools. The boards of this prison were 
concealed under a thick mat of phormium, which 
deadened the noise of the feet. The bare walls re- 
vealed no trace of window or door. Conseil, going 
round the reverse way, met me, and we went back to 
the middle of the cabin, which measured about twenty 
feet by ten. As to its height, Ned Land, in spite of 
his own great height, could not measure it. 

Half an hour had already passed without our situa- 
tion being bettered, when the dense darkness suddenly 
gave way to extreme light. Our prison was suddenly 
lighted — that is to say, it became filled with a lumi- 
nous matter, so strong that I could not bear it at first. 
In its whiteness and intensity I recognised that elec- 
tric light which played round the submarine boat like 
a magnificent phenomenon of phosphorescence. After 
shutting my eyes involuntarily, I opened them and saw 
that this luminous agent came from a half globe, un- 
polished, placed in the roof of the cabin. 

“ At last one can see,” cried Ned Land, who, knife 
in hand, stood on the defensive. 


UNDER THE SEA 


59 


Yes” said I ; “ but we are still in the dark about 
ourselves/' 

“ Let master have patience," said the imperturbable 
Conseil. 

The sudden lighting of the cabin enabled me to ex- 
amine it minutely. It only contained a table and five 
stools. The invisible door might be hermetically 
sealed. No noise was heard. All seemed dead in the 
interior of this boat. Did it move, did it float on the 
surface of the ocean, or did it dive into its depths? I 
could not guess. 

A noise of bolts was now heard, the door opened, 
and two men appeared. 

One was short, very muscular, broad-shouldered, 
with robust limbs, strong head, an abundance of black 
hair, thick moustache, a quick penetrating look, and 
the vivacity which characterises the population of 
Southern France. 

The second stranger merits a more detailed descrip' 
tion. A disciple of Gratiolet or Engel would have read 
his face like an open book. I made out his prevailing 
qualities directly: — self-confidence, — ^because his head 
was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked 
around with cold assurance; calmness, — for his skin, 
rather pale, showed his coolness of blood; energy, — 
evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows; 
and courage, — because his deep breathing denoted 
great power of lungs. 

Whether this person was thirty-five or fifty years 
of age, I could not say. He was tall, had a large 
forehead, straight nose, a clearly cut mouth, beautiful 
teeth, with fine taper hands, indicative of a highly 
nervous temperament. This man was certainly the 


6o 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


most admirable specimen I had ever met. One par- 
ticular feature was his eyes, rather far from each other, 
and which could take in nearly a quarter of the hori- 
zon at once. 

This faculty — (I verified it later) — gave him a 
range of vision far superior to Ned Land’s. When 
this stranger fixed upon an object his eyebrows met, 
his large eyelids closed around so as to contract the 
range of his vision, and he looked as if he magnified 
the objects lessened by distance, as if he pierced those 
sheets of water so opaque to our eyes, and as if he 
read the very depths of the seas. 

The two strangers, with caps made from the fur of 
the sea otter, and shod with sea boots of seal’s skin, 
were dressed in clothes of a particular texture, which 
allowed free movement of the limbs. The taller of 
the two, evidently the chief on board, examined us 
with great attention, without saying a word: then 
turning to his companion, talked with him in an un- 
known tongue. It was a sonorous, harmonious, and 
flexible dialect, the vowels seeming to admit of very 
varied accentuation. 

The other replied by a shake of the head, and added 
two or three perfectly incomprehensible words. Then 
he seemed to question me by a look. 

I replied in good French that I did not know his 
language; but he seemed not to understand me, and 
my situation became more embarrassing. 

“ If master were to tell our story,” said Conseil, 
perhaps these gentlemen may understand some 
words.” 

I began to tell our adventures, articulating each 
syllable clearly, and without omitting one single de- 


UNDER THE SEA 


6i 


tail. I announced our names and rank, introducing 
in person Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and 
master Ned Land, the harpooner. 

The man with the soft calm eyes listened to me 
quietly, even politely, and with extreme attention ; but 
nothing in his countenance indicated that he had un- 
derstood my story. When I finished, he said not a 
word. There remained one resource, to speak English. 
Perhaps they would know this almost universal lan- 
guage. I knew it, as well as the German language, — 
well enough to read it fluently, but not to speak it cor- 
rectly. But, anyhow, we must make ourselves under- 
stood. 

‘‘ Go on in your turn,’’ I said to the harpooner ; 
“ speak your best Anglo-Saxon, and try to do better 
than I.” 

Ned did not beg off, and recommenced our story. 

To his great disgust, the harpooner did not seem to 
have made himself more intelligible than I had. Our 
visitors did not stir. They evidently understood 
neither the language of Arago nor of Faraday. 

Very much embarrassed, after having vainly ex- 
hausted our philological resources, I knew not what 

part to take, when Conseil said 

If master will permit me, I will relate it in Ger- 
man.” 

But in spite of the elegant turns and good accent 
of the narrator, the German language had no success. 
At last, nonplussed, I tried to remember my first les- 
sons, and to narrate our adventures in Latin, but with 
no better success. This last attempt being of no avail, 
the two strangers exchanged some words in their un- 
known language, and retired. 


62 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


The door shut. 

‘‘ It is an infamous shame,” cried Ned Land, who 
broke out for the twentieth time ; we speak to those 
rogues in French, English, German, and Latin, and 
not one of them has the politeness to answer ! ” 

“ Calm yourself,” I said to the impetuous Ned, 
“ anger will do no good.” 

‘‘ But do you see. Professor,” replied our irascible 
companion, “that we shall absolutely die of hunger 
in this iron cage?” 

“ Bah,” said Conseil, philosophically ; “ we can hold 
out some time yet.” 

“ My friends,” I said, “ we must not despair. We 
have been worse off than this. Do me the favour to 
wait a little before forming an opinion upon the com- 
mander and crew of this boat.” 

“ My opinion is formed,” replied Ned Land, sharply. 
“They are rascals.” 

“ Good ! and from what country ? ” 

“ From the land of rogues ! ” 

“ My brave Ned, that country is not clearly indi- 
cated on the map of the world; but I admit that the 
nationality of the two strangers is hard to determine. 
Neither English, French, nor German, that is quite 
certain. However, I am inclined to think that the 
commander and his companion were born in low lati- 
tudes. There is southern blood in them. But I can- 
not decide by their appearance whether they are Span- 
iards, Turks, Arabians, or Indians. As to their lan- 
guage, it is quite incomprehensible.” 

“ There is the disadvantage of not knowing all 
languages,” said Conseil, “ or the disadvantage of not 
having one universal language.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


63 


As he said these words, the door opened. A steward 
entered. He brought us clothes, coats and trousers, 
made of a stuff I did not know. I hastened to dress 
myself, and my companions followed my example. 
During that time, the steward — dumb, perhaps deaf — 
had arranged the table, and laid three plates. 

“ This is something like,” said Conseil. 

“ Bah,” said the rancorous harpooner, “ what do you 
suppose they eat here? Tortoise liver, filleted shark, 
and beefsteaks from sea-dogs.” 

“ We shall see,” said Conseil. 

The dishes, of bell metal, were placed on the table, 
and we took our places. Undoubtedly we had to do 
with civilised people, and had it not been for the 
electric light which flooded us, I could have fancied 
I was in the dining-room of the Adelphi Hotel at 
Liverpool, or at the Grand Hotel in Paris. I must say, 
however, that there was neither bread nor wine. The 
water was fresh and clear, but it was water, and did 
not suit Ned Land’s taste. Amongst the dishes which 
were brought to us, I recognised several fish delicately 
dressed ; but of some, although excellent, I could give 
no opinion, neither could I tell to what kingdom they 
belonged, whether animal or vegetable. As to the din- 
ner service, it was elegant, and in perfect taste. Each 
utensil, spoon, fork, knife, plate, had a letter engraved 
on it, with a motto above it, of which this is an exact 
facsimile : — 

MOBILIS IN MOBILI 

N. 

The letter N was no doubt the initial of the name 
of the enigmatical person, who commanded at the bot- 
tom of the sea. 


64 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Ned and Conseil did not reflect much. They de- 
voured the food, and I did likewise. I was, besides, 
reassured as to our fate; and it seemed evident that 
our hosts would not let us die of want. 

However, everything has an end, everything passes 
away, even the hunger of people who have not eaten 
for fifteen hours. Our appetites satisfied, we felt 
overcome with sleep. 

“ Faith ! I shall sleep well,” said Conseil. 

“ So shall I,” replied Ned Land. 

My two companions stretched themselves on the 
cabin carpet, and were soon sound asleep. For my 
own part, too many thoughts crowded my brain, too 
many insoluble questions pressed upon me, too many 
fancies kept my eyes half open. Where were we? 
What strange power carried us on? I felt — or rather 
fancied I felt — the machine sinking down to the lowest 
beds of the sea. Dreadful nightmares beset me ; I saw 
in these mysterious asylums a world of unknown ani- 
mals, amongst which this submarine boat seemed to be 
of the same kind, living, moving, and formidable as 
they. Then my brain grew calmer, my imagination 
wandered into vague unconsciousness, and I soon fell 
into a deep sleep. 


CHAPTER IX 

NED LANDES TEMPERS 

How long we slept I do not know ; but our sleep must 
have lasted long, for it rested us completely from our 
fatigues. I woke first. My companions had not 
moved, and were still stretched in their corner. 

Hardly roused from my somewhat hard couch, I 
felt my brain freed, my mind clear. I then began an 
attentive examination of our cell. Nothing was 
changed inside. The prison was still a prison, — ^the 
prisoners, prisoners. However, the steward, during 
our sleep, had cleared the table. I breathed with diffi- 
culty. The heavy air seemed to oppress my lungs. 
Although the cell was large, we had evidently con- 
sumed a great part of the oxygen that it Contained. 
Indeed, each man consumes, in one hour, the oxygen 
contained in more than 176 pints of air, and this air, 
charged (as then) with a nearly equal quantity of car- 
bonic acid, becomes unbreathable. 

It became necessary to renew the atmosphere of our 
prison, and no doubt the whole in the submarine boat. 
That gave rise to a question in my mind. How would 
the commander of this floating dwelling-place pro- 
ceed? Would he obtain air by chemical means, in 
getting by heat the oxygen contained in chlorate of 
potass, and in absorbing carbonic acid by caustic pot- 
ash? Or, a more convenient, economical, and conse- 


66 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


quently more probable alternative, would he be satis- 
fied to rise and take breath at the surface of the water, 
like a cetacean, and so renew for twenty-four hours 
the atmospheric provision? 

In fact, I was already obliged to increase my respira- 
tions to eke out of this cell the little oxygen it con- 
tained, when suddenly I was refreshed by a current of 
pure air, and perfumed with saline emanations. It was 
an invigorating sea breeze, charged with iodine. I 
opened my mouth wide, and my lungs saturated them- 
selves with fresh particles. 

At the same time I felt the boat rolling. The iron- 
plated monster had evidently just risen to the surface 
of the ocean to breathe, after the fashion of whales. 
I found out from that the mode of ventilating the 
boat. 

When I had inhaled this air freely, I sought the 
conduit-pipe, which conveyed to us the beneficial whifif, 
and I was not long in finding it. Above the door was 
a ventilator, through which volumes of fresh air re- 
newed the impoverished atmosphere of the cell. 

I was making my observations, when Ned and Con- 
seil awoke almost at the same time, under the influence 
of this reviving air. They rubbed their eyes, stretched 
themselves, and were on their feet in an instant. 

“ Did master sleep well ? asked Conseil, with his 
usual politeness. 

“ Very well, my brave boy. And you, Mr. Land ? '' 
Soundly, Professor. But I don’t know if I am 
right or not ; there seems to be a sea breeze ! ” 

A seaman could not be mistaken, and I told the 
Canadian all that had passed during his sleep. 

Good ! ” said he ; “ that accounts for those roarings 


UNDER THE SEA 


67 


we heard, when the supposed narwhal sighted the 
Abraham Lincoln” 

“ Quite so, Master Land ; it was taking breath.” 

‘‘ Only, Mr. Aronnax, I have no idea what o’clock 
it is, unless it is dinner-time.” 

“ Dinner-time ! my good fellow ? Say rather break- 
fast-time, for we certainly have begun another day.” 

“ So,” said Conseil, we have slept twenty-four 
hours?” 

“ That is my opinion.” 

I will not contradict you,” replied Ned Land. 
‘‘ But dinner or breakfast, the steward will be welcome, 
whichever he brings.” 

Master Land, we must conform to the rules on 
board, and I suppose our appetites are in advance of 
the dinner hour.” 

“That is just like you, friend Conseil,” said Ned, 
impatiently. “ You are never out of temper, always 
calm ; you would return thanks before grace, and die 
of hunger rather than complain ! ” 

Time was getting on, and we were fearfully hungry ; 
and this time the steward did not appear. It was 
rather too long to leave us, if they really had good 
intentions towards us. Ned Land, tormented by the 
cravings of hunger, got still more angry; and, not- 
withstanding his promise, I dreaded an explosion when 
he found himself with one of the crew. 

For two hours more Ned Land’s temper increased ; 
he cried, he shouted, but in vain. The walls were deaf. 
There was no sound to be heard in the boat : all was 
still as death. It did not move, for I should have felt 
the trembling motion of the hull under the influence 
of the screw. Plunged in the depths of the waters. 


68 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


it belonged no longer to earth: — this silence was 
dreadful. 

I felt terrified, Conseil was calm, Ned Land roared. 

Just then a noise was heard outside. Steps sounded 
on the metal flags. The locks were turned, the door 
opened, and the steward appeared. 

Before I could rush forward to stop him, the Cana- 
dian had thrown him down, and held him by the throat. 
The steward was choking under the grip of his power- 
ful hand. 

Conseil was already trying to unclasp the har- 
pooner’s hand from his half-sufifocated victim, and I 
was going to fly to the rescue, when suddenly I was 
nailed to the spot by hearing these words in French — 

“ Be quiet. Master Land ; and you. Professor, will 
you be so good as to listen to m.e ? 


CHAPTER X 


THE MAN OF THE SEAS 

It was the commander of the vessel who thus spoke. 

At these words, Ned Land rose suddenly. The 
steward, nearly strangled, tottered out on a sign from 
his master ; but such was the power of the commander 
on board, that not a gesture betrayed the resentment 
which this man must have felt towards the Canadian. 
Conseil, interested in spite of himself, I stupefied, 
awaited in silence the result of this scene. 

The commander, leaning against a corner of the 
table with his arms folded, scanned us with profound 
attention. Did he hesitate to speak? Did he regret 
the words which he had just spoken in French? One 
might almost think so. 

After some moments of silence, which not one of 
us dreamed of breaking, “ Gentlemen,” said he, in a 
calm and penetrating voice, “ I speak French, English, 
German, and Latin equally well. I could, therefore, 
have answered you at our first interview, but I wished 
to know you first, then to reflect. The story told by 
each one, entirely agreeing in the main points, con- 
vinced me of your identity. I know now that chance 
has brought before me M. Pierre Aronnax, Professor 
of Natural History at the Museum of Paris, en- 
trusted with a scientific mission abroad. Conseil his 
servant, and Ned Land, of Canadian origin, harpooner 


70 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


on board the frigate Abraham Lincoln of the navy of 
the United States of America.” 

I bowed assent. It was not a question that the com- 
mander put to me. Therefore there was no answer to 
be made. This man expressed himself with perfect 
ease, without any accent. His sentences were well 
turned, his words clear, and his fluency of speech re- 
markable. Yet, I did not recognise in him a fellow- 
countryman. 

He continued the conversation in these terms : 

“You have doubtless thought, sir, that I have de- 
layed long in paying you this second visit. The reason 
is that, your identity recognised, I wished to weigh 
maturely what part to act towards you. I have hesi- 
tated much. Most annoying circumstances have 
brought you into the presence of a man who has 
broken all the ties of humanity. You have come to 
trouble my existence.” 

“ Unintentionally ! ” said I. 

“ Unintentionally ? ” replied the stranger, raising his 
voice a little ; “ was it unintentionally that the A braham 
Lincoln pursued me all over the seas? Was it unin- 
tentionally that you took passage in this frigate? Was 
it unintentionally that your cannon balls rebounded off 
the plating of my vessel? Was it unintentionally that 
Mr. Ned Land struck me with his harpoon? ” 

I detected a restrained irritation in these words. But 
to these recriminations I had a very natural answer 
to make and I made it. 

“ Sir,” said I, “ no doubt you are ignorant of the 
discussions which have taken place concerning you in 
America and Europe. You do not know that divers 
accidents, caused by collisions with your submarine 


UNDER THE SEA 


71 


machine, have excited public feeling in the two con- 
tinents. I omit the hypotheses without number by 
which it was sought to explain the inexplicable phe- 
nomenon of which you alone possess the secret. But 
you must understand that, in pursuing you over the 
high seas of the Pacific, the Abraham Lincoln be- 
lieved itself to be chasing some powerful sea-monster, 
of which it was necessary to rid the ocean at any 
price.” 

A half-smile curled the lips of the commander: 
then, in a calmer tone — 

“ M. Aronnax,” he replied, dare you affirm that 
your frigate would not as soon have pursued and can- 
nonaded a submarine boat as a monster?” 

This question embarrassed me, for certainly Captain 
Farragut might not have hesitated. He might have 
thought it his duty to destroy a contrivance of this 
kind, as he would a gigantic narwhal. 

“ You understand then, sir,” continued the stranger, 
“that I have the right to treat you as enemies?” 

I answered nothing, purposely. For what good 
would it be to discuss such a proposition, when force 
could destroy the best arguments? 

“ I have hesitated for some time,” continued the 
commander ; “ nothing obliged me to show you hospi- 
tality. If I chose to separate myself from you, I should 
have no interest in seeing you again; I could place 
you upon the deck of this vessel which has served you 
as a refuge, I could sink beneath the waters, and for- 
get that you had ever existed. Would not that be my 
right?” 

“ It might be the right of a savage,” I answered, 
“ but not that of a civilised man.” 


72 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Professor,” replied the commander quickly, “ I 
am not what you call a civilised man! I have done 
with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have 
the right of appreciating. I do not therefore obey its 
laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before 
me again ! ” 

This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain 
kindled in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a 
glimpse of a terrible past in the life of this man. Not 
only had he put himself beyond the pale of human 
laws, but he had made himself independent of them, 
free in the strictest acceptation of the word, quite be- 
yond their reach ? Who then would dare to pursue him 
at the bottom of the sea, when, on its surface, he defied 
all attempts made against him? What vessel could 
resist the shock of his submarine monitor? What 
cuirass, however thick, could withstand the blows of 
his spur? No man could demand from him an account 
of his actions ; God, if he believed in one — ^his con- 
science, if he had one, — were the sole judges to whom 
he was answerable. 

These reflections crossed my mind rapidly, whilst 
the stranger personage was silent, absorbed, and as if 
wrapped up in himself. I regarded him with fear 
mingled with interest, as doubtless, Œdipus regarded 
the Sphinx. 

After rather a long silence, the commander resumed 
the conversation. i 

“ I have hesitated,” said he, “ but I have thought 
that my interest might be reconciled with that pity to 
which every human being has a right. You will re- 
main on board my vessel, since fate has cast you there. 
You will be free; and in exchange for this liberty, I 


UNDER THE SEA 


73 


shall only impose one single condition. Your word 
of honour to submit to it will suffice.” 

** Speak, sir,” I answered. “ I suppose this condi- 
tion is one which a man of honour may accept ? ” 

“ Yes, sir ; it is this. It is possible that certain 
events, unforeseen, may oblige me to consign you to 
your cabins for some hours or some days, as the case 
may be. As I desire never to use violence, I expect 
from you, more than all the others, a passive obedi- 
ence. In thus acting, I take all the responsibility: I 
acquit you entirely, for I make it an impossibility for 
you to see what ought not to be seen. Do you accept 
this condition ? ” 

Then things took place on board which, to say the 
least, were singular, and which ought not to be seen 
by people who were not placed beyond the pale of 
social laws. Amongst the surprises which the fu- 
ture was preparing for me, this might not be the 
least. 

‘‘ We accept,” I answered ; only I will ask your 
permission, sir, to address one question to you — one 
only.” 

“ Speak, sir.” 

“ You said that we should be free on board.” 

Entirely.” 

“ I ask you, then, what you mean by this liberty ? ” 

“Just the liberty to go, to come, to see, to observe 
even all that passes here, — save under rare circum- 
stances, — the liberty, in short, which we enjoy our- 
selves, my companions and I.” 

It was evident that we did not understand one 
another. 

“ Pardon me, sir,” I resumed, “ but this liberty is 


74 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


only what every prisoner has of pacing his prison. It 
cannot suffice us.” 

“ It must suffice you, however.” 

“ What ! we must renounce for ever seeing our 
country, our friends, our relations again?” 

“ Yes, sir. But to renounce that unendurable worldly 
yoke which men believe to be liberty, is not perhaps 
so painful as you think.” 

“ Well,” exclaimed Ned Land, never will I give 
my word of honour not to try to escape.” 

“ I did not ask you for your word of honour, Master 
Land,” answered the commander, coldly. 

“ Sir,” I replied, beginning to get angry in spite of 
myself, “you abuse your situation towards us; it is 
cruelty.” 

“ No, sir, it is clemency. You are my prisoners of 
war. I keep you, when I could, by a word, plunge 
you into the depths of the ocean. You attacked me. 
You came to surprise a secret which no man in the 
world must penetrate, — tKe secret of my whole exist- 
ence. And you think that I am going to send you 
back to that world which must know me no more? 
Never! In retaining you, it is not you whom I guard 
— it is myself.” 

These words indicated a resolution taken on the 
part of the commander, against which no arguments 
would prevail. 

“ So, sir,” I rejoined, “ you give us simply the 
choice between life and death ? ” 

“ Simply.” 

“ My friends,” said I, “ to a question thus put, there 
is nothing to answer. But no word of honour binds 
us to the master of this vessel.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


75 


‘‘ None, sir,” answered the Unknown. 

Then, in a gentler tone, he continued — 

“ Now, permit me to finish what I have to say to 
you. I know you, M. Aronnax. You and your com- 
panions will not, perhaps, have so much to complain 
of in the chance which has bound you to my fate. 
You will find amongst the books which are my favour- 
ite study the work which you have published on ‘ the 
depths of the sea." I have often read it. You have 
carried your work as far as terrestrial science per- 
mitted you. But you do not know all — you have not 
seen all. Let me tell you then. Professor, that you 
will not regret the time passed on board my vessel. 
You are going to visit the land of marvels."’ 

These words of the commander had a great effect 
upon me. I cannot deny it. My weak point was 
touched; and I forgot, for a moment, that the con- 
templation of these sublime subjects was not worth 
the loss of liberty. Besides, I trusted to the future to 
decide this grave question. So I contented myself 
with saying — 

“ By what name ought I to address you ? ” 

'' Sir,” replied the commander, “ I am nothing to 
you but Captain Nemo ; and you and your companions 
are nothing to me but the passengers of the Nautilus” 
Captain Nemo called. A steward appeared. The 
captain gave him his orders in that strange language 
which I did not understand. Then, turning towards 
the Canadian and Conseil — 

“ A repast awaits you in your cabin,” said he. “ Be 
so good as to follow this man.” 

“ And now, M. Aronnax, our breakfast is ready. 
Permit me to lead the way.” 


76 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I am at your service, captain.” 

I followed Captain Nemo; and as soon as I had 
passed through the door, I found myself in a kind of 
passage lighted by electricity, similar to the waist of 
a ship. After we had proceeded a dozen yards, a 
second door opened before me. 

I then entered a dining-room, decorated and fur- 
nished in severe taste. High oaken sideboards, inlaid 
with ebony, stood at the two extremities of the room, 
and upon their shelves glittered china, porcelain, and 
glass of inestimable value. The plate on the table 
sparkled in the rays which the luminous ceiling shed 
around, while the light was tempered and softened by 
exquisite paintings. 

In the centre of the room was a table richly laid 
out. Captain Nemo indicated the place I was to 
occupy. 

The breakfast consisted of a certain number of 
dishes, the contents of which were furnished by the 
sea alone ; and I was ignorant of the nature and mode 
of preparation of some of them. I acknowledged that 
they were good, but they had a peculiar flavour, which 
I easily became accustomed to. These different ali- 
ments appeared to me to be rich in phosphorus, and I 
thought they must have a marine origin. 

Captain Nemo looked at me. I asked him no ques- 
tions, but he guessed my thoughts, and answered of 
his own accord the questions which I was burning to 
address to him. 

“ The greater part of these dishes are unknown to 
you,” he said to me. ‘‘ However, you may partake of 
them without fear. They are wholesome and nourish- 
ing. For a long time I have renounced the food of 


UNDER THE SEA 


77 


the earth, and am never ill now. My crew, who are 
healthy, are fed on the same food.” 

“ So,” said I, “ all these eatables are the produce of 
the sea?” 

‘'Yes, Professor, the sea supplies all my wants. 
Sometimes I cast my nets in tow, and I draw them 
in ready to break. Sometimes I hunt in the midst 
of this element, which appears to be inaccessible to 
man, and quarry the game which dwells in my sub- 
marine forests. My flocks, like those of Neptune’s 
old shepherds, graze fearlessly in the immense prairies 
of the ocean. I have a vast property there, which I 
cultivate myself, and which is always sown by the 
hand of the Creator of all things.” 

“ I can understand perfectly, sir, that your nets fur- 
nish excellent fish for your table; I can understand 
also that you hunt aquatic game in your submarine 
forests ; but I cannot understand at all how a particle 
of meat, no matter how small, can figure in your bill 
of fare.” 

“ This, which you believe to be meat. Professor, is 
nothing else than fillet of turtle. Here are also some 
dolphins’ livers, which you take to be ragout of pork. 
My cook is a clever fellow, who excels in dressing 
these various products of the ocean. Taste all fhese 
dishes. Here is a preserve of holothuria, which a 
Malay would declare to be unrivalled in the world; 
here is a cream, of which the milk has been furnished 
by the cetacea, and the sugar by the great fucus of 
the North Sea; and lastly, permit me to offer you 
some preserve of anemones, which is equal to that of 
the most delicious fruits.” 

I tasted more from curiosity than as a connoisseur. 


78 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


whilst Captain Nemo enchanted me with his extraor- 
dinary stories. 

“You like the sea, Captain?” 

“Yes; I love it! The sea is everything. It covers 
seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is 
pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where 
man is never lonely^ for he feels life stirring on all 
sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a super- 
natural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but 
love and emotion ; it is the ‘ Living Infinite,’ as one of 
your poets has said. In fact. Professor, Nature mani- 
fests herself in it by her three kingdoms, mineral, 
vegetable, and animal. The sea is the vast reservoir 
of Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; 
and who knows if it will not end with it? In it is 
supreme tranquillity. The sea does not belong to 
despots. Upon its surface men can still exercise unjust 
laws, fight, tear one another to pieces, and be carried 
away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below 
its level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched, 
and their power disappears. Ah ! sir, live — live in the 
bosom of the waters ! There only is independence ! 
There I recognise no masters ! There I am free ! ” 

Captain Nemo suddenly became silent in the midst 
of this enthusiasm, by which he was quite carried 
away. For a few moments he paced up and down, 
much agitated. Then he became more calm, regained 
his accustomed coldness of expression, and turning 
towards me — • 

“ Now, Professor,” said he, “ if you wish to go over 
the Nautilus, I am at your service.” 

Captain Nemo rose. I followed him. A double 
door, contrived at the back of the dining-room, opened, 


UNDER THE SEA 


79 


and I entered a room equal in dimensions to that which 
I had just quitted. 

It was a library. High pieces of furniture, of black 
violet ebony inlaid with brass, supported upon their 
wide shelves a great number of books uniformly 
bound. They followed the shape of the room, termi- 
nating at the lower part in huge divans, covered with 
brown leather, which were curved, to afford the 
greatest comfort. Light movable desks, made to slide 
in and out at will, allowed one to rest one’s book while 
reading. In the centre stood an immense table, cov- 
ered with pamphlets, amongst which were some news- 
papers, already of old date. The electric light flooded 
everything; it was shed from four unpolished globes 
half sunk in the volutes of the ceiling. I looked with 
real admiration at this room, so ingeniously fitted up, 
and I could scarcely believe my eyes. 

“ Captain Nemo,” said I to my host, who had just 
thrown himself on one of the divans, “ this is a library 
which would do honour to more than one of the conti- 
nental palaces, and I am absolutely astounded when I 
consider that it can follow you to the bottom of the 
seas.” 

Where could one find greater solitude or silence. 
Professor? ” replied Captain Nemo. ‘‘ Did your study 
in the Museum afford you such perfect quiet ? ” 

“ No, sir ; and I must confess that it is a very poor 
one after yours. You must have six or seven thou- 
sand volumes here.” 

“ Twelve thousand, M. Aronnax. These are the 
only ties which bind me to the earth. But I had done 
with the world on the day when my Nautilus plunged 
for the first time beneath the waters. That day I 


8o 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


bought my last volumes, my last pamphlets, my last 
papers, and from that time I wish to think that men 
no longer think or write. These books. Professor, are 
at your service besides, and you can make use of them 
freely.’' 

I thanked Captain Nemo and went up to the shelves 
of the library. Works on science, morals, and litera- 
ture abounded in every language; but I did not see 
one single work on political economy; that subject 
appeared to be strictly proscribed. Strange to say, all 
these books were irregularly arranged, in whatever 
language they were written; and this medley proved 
that the Captain of the Nautilus must have read 
indiscriminately the books which he took up by 
chance. 

Sir/’ said I to the Captain, “ I thank you for hav- 
ing placed this library at my disposal. It contains 
treasures of science, and I shall profit by them.” 

“ This room is not only a library,” said Captain 
Nemo, “ it is also a smoking-room.” 

“ A smoking-room ! ” I cried. “ Then one may 
smoke on board?” 

Certainly.” 

“ Then, sir, I am forced to believe that you have 
kept up a communication with Havannah.” 

Not any,” answered the Captain. Accept this 
cigar, M. Aronnax; and though it does not come 
from Havannah, you will be pleased with it, if you are 
a connoisseur.” 

I took the cigar which was offered me; its «hape 
recalled the London ones, but it seemed to be made of 
leaves of gold. I lighted it at a little brazier, which 
was supported upon an elegant bronze stem, and 


UNDER THE SEA 


8i 


drew the first whiffs with the delight of a lover of 
smoking who has not smoked for two days. 

“ It is excellent,” said I, ‘‘ but it is not tobacco.” 

“ No ! ” answered the Captain, “ this tobacco comes 
neither from Havannah nor from the East. It is a 
kind of sea-weed, rich in nicotine, with which the sea 
provides me, but somewhat sparingly.” 

At that moment Captain Nemo opened a door which 
stood opposite to that by which I had entered the 
library, and I passed into an immense drawing-room 
splendidly lighted. 

It was a vast four-sided room, thirty feet long, 
eighteen wide, and fifteen high. A luminous ceiling, 
decorated with light arabesques, shed a soft clear light 
over all the marvels accumulated in this museum. For 
it was in fact a museum, in which an intelligent and 
prodigal hand had gathered all the treasures of nature 
and art, with the artistic confusion which distinguishes 
a painter’s studio. 

Thirty first-rate pictures, uniformly framed, sepa- 
rated by bright drapery, ornamented the walls, which 
were hung with tapestry of severe design. I saw 
works of great value, the greater part of which I had 
admired in the special collections of Europe, and in 
the exhibitions of paintings. The several schools of 
the old masters were represented by a Madonna of 
Raphael, a Virgin of Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph of 
Corregio, a woman of Titan, an Adoration of Vero- 
nese, an Assumption of Murillo, a portrait of Holbein, 
a monk of Velasquez, a martyr of Ribera, a fair of 
Rubens, two Flemish landscapes of Teniers, three little 

genre ” pictures of Gerard Dow, Metsu, and Paul 
Potter, two specimens of Géricault and Prudhon„ and 


82 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


some sea-pieces of Backhuysen and Vernet. Amongst 
the works of modern painters were pictures with the 
signatures of Delacroix, Ingres, Decamps, Troy on, 
Meissonier, Daubigny, etc. ; and some admirable 
statues in marble and bronze^ after the finest antique 
models, stood upon pedestals in the corners of this 
magnificent museum. Amazement, as the Captain of 
the Nautilus had predicted, had already begun to take 
possession of me. 

‘‘ Professor,” said this strange man, you must 
excuse the unceremonious way in which I receive you, 
and the disorder of this room.” 

“ Sir,” I answered, “ without seeking to know who 
you are, I recognise in you an artist.” 

“ An amateur, nothing more, sir. Formerly I loved 
to collect these beautiful works created by the hand 
of man. I sought them greedily, and ferreted them 
out indefatigably, and I have been able to bring to- 
gether some objects of great value. These are my 
last souvenirs of that world which is dead to me. In 
my eyes, your modern artists are already old; they 
have two or three thousand years of existence ; I con- 
found them in my own mind. Masters have no 
age.” 

“ And these musicians ? ” said I, pointing out some 
works of Weber, Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, 
Meyerbeer, Herold, Wagner, Auber, Gounod, and a 
number of others, scattered over a large model piano- 
organ which occupied one of the panels of the draw- 
ing-room. 

“ These musicians,” replied Captain Nemo, “ are the 
contemporaries of Orpheus ; for in the memory of the 
dead all chronological differences are effaced; and I 


UNDER THE SEA 


83 


am dead, Professor; as much dead as those of youi 
friends who are sleeping six feet under the earth ! ” 

Captain Nemo was silent, and seemed lost in a pro- 
found reverie. I contemplated him with deep interest, 
analysing in silence the strange expression of his coun- 
tenance. Leaning on his elbow against an angle of a 
costly mosaic table, he no longer saw me, — he had 
forgotten my presence. 

I did not disturb this reverie, and continued my 
observation of the curiosities which enriched this 
drawing-room. 

Under elegant glass cases, fixed by copper rivets, 
were classed and labelled the most precious produc- 
tions of the sea which had ever been presented to the 
eye of a naturalist. My delight as a professor may be 
conceived. 

The division containing the zoophytes presented the 
most curious specimens of the two groups of polypi 
and echinodermes. In the first group, the tubipores, 
were gorgones arranged like a fan, soft sponges of 
Syria, ises of the Moluccas, pennatules, an admirable 
virgularia of the Norwegian seas, variegated umbellu- 
lairæ, alcyonariæ, a whole series of madrepores, which 
my master Milne Edwards has so cleverly classified, 
amongst which I remarked some wonderful flabellinæ 
oculinæ of the Island of Bourbon, the “ Neptune’s 
car” of the Antilles, superb varieties of corals — in 
short, every species of those curious polypi of which 
entire islands are formed, which will one day become 
continents. Of the echinodermes, remarkable for 
their coating of spines, asteri, sea-stars, pantacrinæ, 
comatules, asterophons, echini, holothuri, etc., repre- 
sented individually a complete collection of this group. 


84 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


A somewhat nervous conchyliologist would cer 
tainly have fainted before other more numerous cases, 
in which were classified the specirnens of molluscs. It 
was a collection of inestimable value, which time fails 
me to describe minutely. Amongst these specimens 
I will quote from memory only the elegant royal 
hammer-fish of the Indian Ocean, whose regular white 
spots stood out brightly on a red and brown ground, 
an imperial spondyle, bright-coloured, bristling with 
spines, a rare specimen in the European museums — (I 
estimated its value at not less than iiooo) ; a common 
hammer-fish of the seas of New Holland, which is 
only procured with difficulty ; exotic buccardia of 
Senegal; fragile white bivalve shells, which a breath 
might shatter like a soap-bubble; several varieties of 
the aspirgillum of Java, a kind of calcareous tube, 
edged with leafy folds, and much debated by ama- 
teurs; a whole series of trochi, some a greenish- 
yellow, found in the American seas, others a reddish- 
brown, natives of Australian waters ; others from the 
Gulf of Mexico, remarkable for their imbricated shell ; 
stellar! found in the Southern Seas; and last, the 
rarest of all, the magnificent spur of New Zealand; 
and every description of delicate and fragile shells to 
which science has given appropriate names. 

Apart, in separate compartments, were spread oivt 
chaplets of pearls of the greatest beauty, which re- 
flected the electric light in little sparks of fire ; pink 
pearls, torn from the pinna-marina of the Red Sea; 
green pearls of the haliotyde iris; yellow, blue and 
black pearls, the curious productions of the divers mol- 
luscs of every ocean, and certain mussels of the water- 
courses of the North; lastly, several specimens of 


UNDER THE SEA 


85 


inestimable value which had been gathered from the 
rarest pintadines. Some of these pearls were larger 
than a pigeon’s egg, and were worth as much, and 
more than that which the traveller Tavernier sold to 
the Shah of Persia for three millions, and surpassed 
the one in the possession of the Imaum of Muscat, 
which I had believed to be unrivalled in the world. 

Therefore to estimate the value of this collection 
was simply impossible. Captain Nemo must have ex- 
pended millions in the acquirement of these various 
specimens, and I was thinking what source he could 
have drawn from, to have been able thus to gratify 
his fancy for collecting, when I was interrupted by 
these words — 

“ You are examining my shells. Professor ? Un- 
questionably they must be interesting to a naturalist; 
but for me they have a far greater charm, for I have 
collected them all with my own hand, and there is not 
a sea on the face of the globe which has escaped my 
researches.” 

“ I can understand. Captain, the delight of wander- 
ing about in the midst of such riches. You are one of 
those who have collected their treasures themselves. 
No museum in Europe possesses such a collection of 
the produce of the ocean. But if I exhaust all my 
admiration upon it, I shall have none left for the vessel 
which carries it. I do not wish to pry into your secrets ; 
but I must confess that this Nautilus, with the motive 
power which is confined in it, the contrivances which 
enable it to be worked, the powerful agent which 
propels it, all excite my curiosity to the highest pitch. 
I see suspended on the walls of this room instruments 
of whose use I am ignorant.” 


86 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


*‘You will find these same instruments in my own 
room, Professor, where I shall have much pleasure in 
explaining their use to you. But first come and inspect 
the cabin which is set apart for your own use. You 
must see how you will be accommodated on board the 
Nautilus'* 

I followed Captain Nemo, who, by one of the doors 
opening from each panel of the drawing-room, re- 
gained the waist. He conducted me towards the bow, 
and there I found, not a cabin, but an elegant room, 
with a bed, dressing-table, and several other pieces of 
furniture. 

I could only thank my host. 

“ Your room adjoins mine,’’ said he, opening a door, 

and mine opens into the drawing-room that we have 
just quitted.” 

I entered the Captain's room: it had a severe, 
almost a monkish, aspect. A small iron bedstead, a 
table, some articles for the toilet; the whole lighted 
by a skylight. No comforts, the strictest necessaries 
only. 

Captain Nemo pointed to a seat. 

“ Be so good as to sit down,” he said. I seated 
myself, and he began thus : 



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CHAPTER XI 


ALL BY ELECTRICITY 

** Sir,” seM Captain Nemo, showing me the instru- 
ments hanging on the walls of his room, here are 
the contrivances required for the navigation of the 
Nautilus. Here, as in the drawing-room, I have them 
always under my eyes, and they indicate my position 
and exact direction in the middle of the ocean. Some 
are known to you, such as the thermometer, which 
gives the internal temperature of the Nautilus; the 
barometer, which indicates the weight of the air and 
foretells the changes of the weather; the hygrometer, 
which marks the dryness of the atmosphere ; the 
storm-glass, the contents of which, by decomposing, 
announce the approach of tempests ; the compass, 
which guides my course; the sextant, which shows 
the latitude by the altitude of the sun; chronometers, 
by which I calculate the longitude; and glasses for 
day and night, which I use to examine the points of 
the horizon, when the Nautilus rises to the surface of 
the waves.” 

“ These are the usual nautical instruments,” I re- 
plied, “ and I know the use of them. But these others, 
no doubt, answer to the particular requirements of the 
Naiitilus. This dial with the movable needle is a 
manometer, is it not ? ” 


88 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ It is actually a manometer. But by communica- 
tion with the water, whose external pressure it indh 
cates, it gives our depth at the same time.” 

‘‘And these other instruments, the use of which I 
cannot guess ? ” 

“ Here, Professor, I ought to give you some ex- 
planations. Will you be kind enough to listen to 
me?” 

He was silent for a few moments, then he 
said — 

“There is a powerful agent, obedient, rapid, easy, 
which conforms to every use, and reigns supreme on 
board my vessel. Everything is done by means of it. 
It lights it, warms it, and is the soul of my mechan- 
ical apparatus. This agent is electricity.” 

“ Electricity ?” I cried in surprise. 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ Nevertheless, Captain, you possess an extreme 
rapidity of movement, which does not agree with the 
power of electricity. Until now, its dynamic force has 
remained under restraint, and has only been able to 
produce a small amount of power.” 

“ Professor,” said Captain Nemo, “ my electricity is 
not everybody’s. You know what sea- water is com- 
posed of. In a thousand grammes are found QÔJ per 
cent, of water, and about 2f per cent, of chloride of 
sodium ; then, in a smaller quantity, chlorides of mag- 
nesium and of potassium, bromide of magnesium, sul- 
phate of magnesia, sulphate and carbonate of lime. 
You see, then, that chloride of sodium forms a large 
part of it. So it is this sodium that I extract from 
sea-water, and of which I compose my ingredients. I 
owe all to the ocean; it produces electricity, and elec- 


UNDER THE SEA 


89 


tricity gives heat, light, motion, and, in a word, life 
to the Nautilus/' 

“ But not the air you breathe ? 

“Oh ! I could manufacture the air necessary for my 
consumption, but it is useless, because I go up to the 
surface of the water when I please. However, if elec- 
tricity does not furnish me with air to breathe, it 
works at least the powerful pumps that are stored in 
spacious reservoirs, and which enable me to prolong 
at need, and as long as I will, my stay in the depths 
of the sea. It gives a uniform and unintermittent 
light, which the sun does not. Mow look at this clock; 
it is electrical, and goes with a regularity that defies 
the best chonometers. I have divided it into twenty- 
four hours, like the Italian clocks, because for me 
there is neither night nor day, sun or moon, but only 
that factitious light that I take with me to the bottom 
of the sea. Look! just now, it is ten o’clock in the 
morning.” 

“ Exactly.” 

“ Another application of electricity. This dial hang- 
ing in front of us indicates the speed of the Nautilus, 
An electric thread puts it in communication with the 
screw, and the needle indicates the real speed. Look ! 
now we are spinning along with a uniform speed of 
fifteen miles an hour.” 

“ It is marvellous ! and I see. Captain, you were 
right to make use of this agent that takes the place of 
wind, water, and steam.” 

“We have not finished, M. Aronnax,” said Captain 
Nemo, rising; “ if you will follow me, we will examine, 
the stern of the Nautilus/' 

Really, I knew already the anterior part of this sub- 


90 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


marine boat, of which this is the exact division, start- 
ing from the ship’s head : — the dining-room, five yards 
long, separated from the library by a water-tight 
partition ; the library, five yards long ; the large 
drawing-room, ten yards long, separated from the 
Captain’s room by a second water-tight partition; the 
said room, five yards in length; mine, two and a half 
yards ; and lastly, a reservoir of air, seven and a half 
yards, that extended to the bows. Total length thirty- 
five yards, or one hundred and five feet. The parti- 
tions had doors that were shut hermetically by means 
of india-rubber instruments, and they ensured the 
safety of the Nautilus in case of a leak. 

I followed Captain Nemo through the waist, and 
arrived at the centre of the boat. There was a sort of 
well that opened between two partitions. An iron 
ladder, fastened with an iron hook to the partition, 
led to the upper end. I asked the Captain what the 
ladder was used for. 

“ It leads to the small boat,” he said. 

What ! have you a boat ?” I exclaimed, in sur- 
prise. 

‘‘ Of course ; an excellent vessel, light and insub- 
mersible, that serves either as a fishing or as a pleas- 
ure boat.” 

“But then, when you wish to embark, you are 
obliged to come to the surface of the water ? ” 

“ Not at all. This boat is attached to the upper part 
of the hull of the Nautilus, and occupies a cavity made 
for it. It is decked, quite water-tight, and held to- 
gether by solid bolts. This ladder leads to a man-hole 
made in the hull of the Nautilus, that corresponds 
with a similar hole made in the side of the boat By 


UNDER THE SEA 


91 


this double opening I get into the small vessel. They 
shut the one belonging to the Nautilus, I shut the 
other by means of screw pressure. I undo the bolts, 
and the little boat goes up to the surface of the sea 
with prodigious rapidity. I then open the panel of the 
bridge, carefully shut till then; I mast it^ hoist my 
sail, take my oars, and I’m off.” 

“ But how do you get back on board ? ” 

“ I do not come back, M. Aronnax ; the Nautilus 
comes to me.” 

“ By your orders ? ” 

By my orders. An electric thread connects us. I 
telegraph to it, and that is enough.” 

“ Really,” I said, astonished at these marvels, 
“ nothing can be more simple.” 

After having passed by the cage of the staircase 
that led to the platform, I saw a cabin six feet long, 
in which Conseil and Ned Land, enchanted with their 
repast, were devouring it with avidity. Then a door 
opened into a kitchen nine feet long, situated between 
the large storerooms. There electricity, better than 
gas itself, did all the cooking. The streams under 
the furnaces gave out to the sponges of platina a heat 
which was regularly kept up and distributed. They 
also heated a distilling apparatus, which, by evapora- 
tion, furnished excellent drinkable water. Near this 
kitchen was a bathroom comfortably furnished, with 
hot and cold water taps. 

Next to the kitchen was the berthroom of the vessel, 
sixteen feet long. But the door was shut, and I could 
not see the management of it, which might have given 
me an idea of the number of men employed on board 
the Nautilus, 


92 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


At the bottom was a fourth partition that separated 
this office from the engine-room. A door c;pened, and 
I found myself in the compartment where Captain 
Nemo — certainly an engineer of a very high order — 
had arranged his locomotive machinery. This engine- 
room, clearly lighted, did not measure less than sixty- 
five feet in length. It was divided into two parts ; the 
first contained the materials for producing electricity, 
and the second the machinery that connected it with 
the screw. I examined it with great interest, in order 
to understand the machinery of the Nautilus. 

** You see,'’ said the Captain, “ I use Bunsen's con- 
trivances, not Ruhmkorff’s. Those would not have 
been powerful enough. Bunsen's are fewer in number, 
but strong and large, which experience proves to be 
the best. The electricity produced passes forward, 
where it works, by electro-magnets of great size, on a 
system of levers and cog-wheels that transmit the 
movement to the axle of the screw. This one, the 
diameter of which is nineteen feet, and the thread 
twenty-three feet, performs about a hundred and 
twenty revolutions in a second." 

“ And you get then ? " 

“ A speed of fifty miles an hour." 

“ I have seen the Nautilus manœuvre before the 
Abraham Lincoln, and I have my own ideas as to its 
speed. But this is not enough. We must see where 
we go. We must be able to direct it to the right, to 
the left, above, below. How do you get to the great 
depths, where you find an increasing resistance, which 
is rated by hundreds of atmospheres? How do you 
return to the surface of the ocean ? And how do you 


UNDER THE SEA 


93 


maintain yourselves in the requisite medium? Am 
I asking too much ? ” 

“ Not at all, Professor,’' replied the Captain, with 
some hesitation ; “ since you may never leave this sub- 
marine boat. Come into the saloon, it is our usual 
study, and there you will learn all you want to know 
about the Nautilus,* 


CHAPTER XII 


SOME FIGURES 

A MOMENT after we were seated on a divan in the 
saloon smoking. The Captain showed me a sketch 
that gave the plan, section, and elevation of the Nau- 
tilus. Then he began his description in these words : — 
Here, M. Aronnax, are the several dimensions of 
the boat you are in. It is an elongated cylinder with 
conical ends. It is very like a cigar in shape, a shape 
already adopted in London in several constructions of 
the same sort. The length of this cylinder, from stem 
to stern, is exactly 232 feet, and its maximum breadth 
is twenty-six feet. It is not built quite like your long- 
voyage steamers, but its lines are sufficiently long, and 
its curves prolonged enough, to allow the water to 
slide off easily, and oppose no obstacle to its passage. 
These two dimensions enable you to obtain by a simple 
calculation the surface and cubic contents of the 
Nautilus. Its area measures 6032 feet; and its con- 
tents about 1500 cubic yards — that is to say, when 
completely immersed it displaces 50,000 feet of water, 
or weighs 1500 tons. 

‘‘ When I made the plans for this submarine vessel, 
I meant that nine-tenths should be submerged: con- 
sequently, it ought only to displace nine-tenths of its 
bulk — that is to say, only to weigh that number of 
tons. I ought not, therefore, to have exceeded that 
weight, constructing it on the aforesaid dimensions. 


UNDER THE SEA 


95 


“ The Nautilus is composed of two hulls, one inside, 
the other outside, joined by T-shaped irons, which 
render it very strong. Indeed, owing to this cellular 
arrangement it resists like a block, as if it were solid. 
Its sides cannot yield; it coheres spontaneously, and 
not by the closeness of its rivets ; and the homogenity 
of its construction, due to the perfect union of the 
materials, enables it to defy the roughest seas. 

“ These two hulls are composed of steel plates, 
whose density is from .7 to .8 that of water. The first 
is not less than two inches and a half thick, and weighs 
394 tons. The second envelope, the keel, twenty inches 
high and ten thick, weighs alone sixty-two tons. The 
engine, the ballast, the several accessories and appara- 
tus appendages, the partitions and bulkheads, weigh 
961.62 tons. Do you follow all this?” 

“ I do.” 

“ Then, when the Nautilus is afloat under these cir- 
cumstances, one-tenth is out of the water. Now, if I 
have made reservoirs of a size equal to this tenth, or 
capable holding 150 tons, and if I fill them with water^ 
the boat, weighing then 1507 tons, will be completely 
immersed. That would happen. Professor. These 
reservoirs are in the lower parts of the Nautilus. I 
turn on taps and they fill, and the vessel sinks that had 
just been level with the surface.” 

“ Well, Captain, but now we com.e to the real diffi- 
culty. I can understand your rising to the surface; 
but diving below the surface, does not your submarine 
contrivance encounter a pressure, and consequently 
undergo an upward thrust of one atmosphere for 
every thirty feet of water, just about fifteen pounds 
per square inch ? ” 


96 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“Just so, sir.’’ 

“ Then, unless you quite fill the Nautilus, I do not 
see how you can draw it down to those depths.” 

“ Professor, you must not confound statistics with 
dynamics, or you will be exposed to grave errors. 
There is very little labour spent in attaining the lower 
regions of the ocean, for all bodies have a tendency 
to sink. When I wanted to find out the necessary 
increase of weight to sink the Nautilus, I had only to 
calculate the reduction of volume that sea-water ac- 
quires according to the depth.” 

“ That is evident.” 

“ Now, if water is not absolutely incompressible, it 
is at least capable of very slight compression. Indeed, 
after the most recent calculations this reduction is only 
.000436 of an atmosphere for each thirty feet of 
depth. If we want to sink 3000 feet, I should keep 
account of the reduction of bulk under a pressure 
equal to that of a column of water of a thousand feet. 
The calculation is easily verified. Now, I have sup- 
plementary reservoirs capable of holding a hundred 
tons. Therefore I can sink to a considerable depth. 
When I wish to rise to the level of the sea, I only let 
off the water, and empty all the reservoirs if I want 
the Nautilus to emerge from the tenth part of her total 
capacity.” 

I had nothing to object to these reasonings. 

“ I admit your calculations. Captain,” I replied ; “ I 
should be wrong to dispute them since daily experi- 
ence confirms them; but I foresee a real difficulty in 
the way.” 

“What, sir?” 

“ When you are about 1000 feet deep, the walls of 


UNDER THE SEA 


97 


the Nautilus bear a pressure of loo atmospheres. If, 
then, just now you were to empty the supplementary 
reservoirs, to lighten the vessel, and to go up to the 
surface, the pumps must overcome the pressure of lOO 
atmospheres, which is 1500 pounds per square inch. 
From that a power 

That electricity alone can give,’^ said the Captain, 
hastily. “ I repeat, sir, that the dynamic power of my 
engines is almost infinite. The pumps of the Nautilus 
have an enormous power, as you must have observed 
when their jets of water burst like a torrent upon the 
Abraham Lincoln. Besides I use subsidiary reser- 
voirs only to attain a mean depth of 750 to 1000 
fathoms, and that with a view of managing my ma- 
chines. Also, when I have a mind to visit the depths 
of the ocean five or six miles below the surface, I 
make use of slower but not less infallible means.^' 

What are they. Captain ? ” 

“ That involves my telling you how the Nautilus is 
worked.” 

I am impatient to learn.” 

“To steer this boat to starboard or port, to turn — 
in a word, following a horizontal plan, I use an ordi- 
nary rudder fixed on the back of the stern-post, and 
with one wheel and some tackle to steer by. But I 
can also make the Nautilus rise and sink, and sink and 
rise, by a vertical movement by means of two inclined 
planes fastened to its sides, opposite the centre of flota- 
tion, planes that move in every direction, and that are 
worked by powerful levers from the interior. If the 
planes are kept parallel with the boat, it moves hori- 
zontally. If slanted, the Nautilus, according to this 
inclination, and under the influence of the screvy, 


98 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


either sinks diagonally or rises diagonally as it suits 
me. And even if I wish to rise more quickly to the 
surface, I ship the screw, and the pressure of the water 
causes the Nautilus to rise vertically like a balloon 
filled with hydrogen.’’ 

“ Bravo, Captain ! But how can the steersman fol- 
low the route in the middle of the waters ? ” 

“ The steersman is placed in a glazed box, that is 
raised above the hull of the Nautilus, and furnished 
with lenses.” 

Are these lenses capable of resisting such pres- 
sure?” 

“ Perfectly. Glass, which breaks at a blow, is, 
nevertheless, capable of offering considerable resist- 
ance. During some experiments of fishing by electric 
light in 1864 in the Northern Seas, we saw plates less 
than a third of an inch thick resist a pressure of six- 
teen atmospheres. Now, the glass that I use is not 
less than thirty times thicker.” 

Granted. But, after all, in order to see, the light 
must exceed the darkness, and in the midst of the 
darkness in the water, how can you see ? ” 

“ Behind the steersman’s cage is placed a powerful 
electric reflector, the rays from which light up the sea 
for half a mile in front.” 

“ Ah ! bravo, bravo. Captain ! Now I can account 
for this phosphorescence in the supposed narwhal that 
puzzled us so. I now ask you if the boarding of the 
Nautilus and of the Scotia, that has made such a noise, 
has been the result of a chance rencontre ? ” 

“ Quite accidental, sir. I was sailing only one 
fathom below the surface of the water, when the shock 
came. It had no bad result.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


95 


“ None, sir. But now, about your rencontre with 
the Abraham Lincoln?” 

“ Professor, I am sorry for one of the best vessels 
in the American navy; but they attacked me, and I 
was bound to defend myself. I contented myself, how- 
ever, with putting the frigate hors de combat; she 
will not have any difficulty in getting repaired at the 
next port.” 

“ Ah, Commander ! your Nautilus is certainly a 
marvellous boat.” 

“ Yes, Professor ; and I love it as if it were part of 
myself. If danger threatens one of your vessels on 
the ocean, the first impression is the feeling of an 
abyss above and below. On the Nautilus men’s hearts 
never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the 
double shell is as firm as iron; no rigging to attend 
to ; no sails for the wind to carry away ; no boilers to 
burst; no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, 
not of wood ; no coal to run short, for electricity is 
the only mechanical agent; no collision to fear, for 
it alone swims in deep water; no tempest to brave, 
for when it dives below the water, it reaches absolute 
tranquillity. There, sir! that is the perfection of ves- 
sels ! And if it is true that the engineer has more 
confidence in the vessel than the builder, and the 
builder than the captain himself, you understand the 
trust I repose in my Nautilus; for I am at once cap- 
tain, builder, and engineer.” 

“ But how could you construct this wonderful Nau- 
tilus in secret ? ” 

‘‘ Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought 
from different parts of the globe. The keel was forged 
at Creusot, the shaft of the screw at Penn & Co.’s, 


100 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


London, the iron plates of the hull at Laird’s of Liver- 
pool, the screw itself at Scott’s at Glasgow. The res- 
ervoirs were made by Cail & Co. at Paris, the engine 
by Krupp in Prussia, its beak in Motala’s workshop 
in Sweden, its mathematical instruments by Hart 
Brothers, of New York, etc. ; and each of these people 
had my orders under different names.” 

“ But these parts had to be put together and 
arranged ? ” 

“ Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a 
desert island in the ocean. There my workmen, that 
is to say, the brave men that I instructed and educated, 
and myself have put together our Nautilus. Then 
when the work was finished, fire destroyed all trace of 
our proceedings on this island, that I could have 
jumped over if I had liked.” 

'' Then the cost of this vessel is great ? ” 

“ M. Aronnax, an iron vessel costs ^45 per ton. 
Now the Nautilus weighed 1500. It came therefore 
to £67,500, and £80,000 more for fitting it up, and 
about £200,000 with the works of art and the collec- 
tions it contains.” 

“ One last question. Captain Nemo.” 

‘‘ Ask it, Professor.” 

“You are rich?” 

“ Immensely rich, sir ; and I could, without missing 
it, pay the national debt of France.” 

I stared at the singular person who spoke thus. Was 
he playing upon my credulity? The future would 
decide that. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE BLACK RIVER 

The portion of the terrestrial globe which is covered 
by water is estimated at upwards of eighty millions 
of acres. This fluid mass comprises two billions two 
hundred and fifty millions of cubic miles, forming a 
spherical body of a diameter of sixty leagues, the 
weight of which would be three quintillions of tons. 
To comprehend the meaning of these figures, it is 
necessary to observe that a quintillion is to a billion as 
a billion is to unity; in other words, there are as 
many billions in a quintillion as there are units in a 
billion. This mass of fluid is equal to about the quan- 
tity of water which would be discharged by all the 
rivers of the earth in forty thousand years. 

During the geological epochs, the igneous period 
succeeded to the aqueous. The ocean originally pre- 
vailed everywhere. Then by degrees, in the silurian 
period, the tops of the mountains began to appear, the 
islands emerged, then disappeared in partial deluges, 
reappeared, became settled, formed continents, till at 
length the earth became geographically arranged, as 
we see in the present day. The solid had wrested from 
the liquid thirty-seven million six hundred and fifty- 
seven square miles, equal to twelve billion nine 
hundred and sixty millions of acres. 

The shape of continents allows us to divide the 


102 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


waters into five great portions: the Arctic or Frozen 
Ocean, the Antarctic or Frozen Ocean, the Indian, 
the Atlantic, and the Pacific oceans. 

The Pacific Ocean extends from north to south be- 
tween the two polar circles, and from east to west 
between Asia and America, over an extent of 145 
degrees of longitude. It is the quietest of seas; its 
currents are broad and slow, it has medium tides, and 
abundant rain. Such was the ocean that my fate 
destined me first to travel over under these strange 
conditions. 

“ Sir,” said Captain Nemo, “ we will, if you please, 
take our bearings and fix the starting-point of this 
voyage. It is a quarter to twelve, I will go up again 
to the surface.” 

The Captain pressed an electric clock three times. 
The pumps began to drive the water from the tanks ; 
the needle of the manometer marked by a diflPerent 
pressure the ascent of the Nautilus, then it stopped. 

“ We have arrived,” said the Captain. 

I went to the central staircase which opened on to 
the platform, clambered up the iron steps, and found 
myself on the upper part of the Nautilus. 

The platform was only three feet out of water. The 
front and back of the Nautilus was of that spindle- 
shape which caused it justly to be compared to a cigar. 
I noticed that its iron plates, slightly overlaying each 
other, resembled the shell which clothes the bodies of 
our large terrestrial reptiles. It explained to me how 
natural it was, in spite of all glasses, that this boat 
should have been taken for a marine animal. 

Towards the middle of the platform the long-boat, 
half buried in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight 


Captain Nemo took the Sun’s altitude. 







J *7 


-■m 


Hr 


* 


•y 











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'k? 


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îv>*»ç*r 






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K. -f '■:. ■ ' f:'V.< i ^ ■?P8fSk.''^ 

i '^ ' i ^ ‘ ‘ Vj V » ■ ' '^Vv^V’ ’y'< 

?'^-1 A ' '■' é .. ;-xV^fc4«. ‘.' J .'.TL'Î- 


;jivMeâ 







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UNDER THE SEA 


103 


excrescence. Fore and aft rose two cages of medium 
height with inclined sides, and partly closed by thick 
lenticular glasses; one destined for the steersman 
who directed the Nautilus, the other containing a 
brilliant lantern to give light on the road. 

The sea was beautiful, the sky pure. Scarcely 
could the long vehicle feel the broad undulations of 
the ocean. A light breeze from the east rippled the 
surface of the waters. The horizon, free from fog, 
made observation easy. Nothing was in sight. Not 
a quicksand, not an island. A vast desert. 

Captain Nemo, by the help of his sextant, took the 
altitude of the sun, which ought also to give the 
latitude. He waited for some moments till its disc 
touched the horizon. Whilst taking observations not a 
muscle moved, the instrument could not have been 
more motionless in a hand of marble. 

“ Twelve o’clock, sir,” said he. “ When you 
like ” 

I cast a look upon the sea, slightly yellowed by the 
Japanese coast, and descended to the saloon. 

“ And now, sir, I leave you to your studies,” added 
the Captain ; our course is E.N.E., our depth is 
twenty-six fathoms. Here are maps on a large scale 
by which you may follow it. The saloon is at your 
disposal, and with your permission I will retire.” 
Captain Nemo bowed, and I remained alone, lost in 
thoughts all bearing on the commander of the Nautilus. 

For a whole hour was I deep in these reflections, 
seeking to pierce this mystery so interesting to me. 
Then my eyes fell upon the vast planisphere spread 
upon the table, and I placed my finger on the very 
spot where the given latitude and longitude crossed. 


104 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


The sea has its large rivers like the continents. 
They are special currents known by their temperature 
and their colour. The most remarkable of these is 
known by the name of the Gulf Stream. Science has 
decided on the globe the direction of five principal 
currents: one in the North Atlantic, a second in the 
South, a third in the North Pacific, a fourth in the 
South, and a fifth in the Southern Indian Ocean. It is 
even probable that a sixth current existed at one time 
or another in the Northern Indian Ocean, when the 
Caspian and Aral seas formed but one vast sheet of 
water. 

At this point indicated on the planisphere one of 
these currents was rolling, the Kuro-Sivo of the 
Japanese, the Black River which, leaving the Gulf 
of Bengal where it is warmed by the perpendicular 
rays of a tropical sun, crosses the Straits of Malacca 
along the coast of Asia, turns into the North Pacific 
to the Aleutian Islands, carrying with it trunks of 
camphor-trees and other indigenous productions, and 
edging the waves of the ocean with the pure indigo 
of its warm water. It was this current that the 
Nautilus was to follow. I followed it with my eye; 
saw it lose itself in the vastness of the Pacific, and felt 
myself drawn with it, when Ned Land and Conseil 
appeared at the door of the saloon. 

My two brave companions remained petrified at the 
sight of the wonders spread before them. 

“ Where are we, where are we ? exclaimed the 
Canadian. “ In the museum at Quebec ? 

‘‘ My friends,” I answered, making a sign for them 
to enter, “ you are not in Canada, but on board the 
Nautilus fifty yards below the level of the sea.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


105 


“ But, M. Aronnax,'' said Ned Land, “ can you tell 
me how many men there are on board? Ten, twenty, 
fifty, a hundred ? ” 

“I cannot answer you, Mr. Land; -it is better to 
abandon for a time all idea of seizing the Nautilus or 
escaping from it. This ship is a masterpiece of 
modern industry, and I should be sorry not to have 
seen it. Many people would accept the situation 
forced upon us, if only to move amongst such wonders. 
So be quiet and let us try and see what passes around 
us.’' 

“ See ! ” exclaimed the harpooner, “ but we can 
see nothing in this iron prison! We are walking — > 
we are sailing — ^blindly.” 

Ned Land had scarcely pronounced these words 
when all was suddenly darkness. The luminous ceil- 
ing was gone, and so rapidly that my eyes received 
a painful impression. 

We remained mute, not stirring, and not knowing 
what surprise awaited us, whether agreeable or dis- 
agreeable. A sliding noise was heard: one would 
have said that panels were working at the sides of 
the Nautilus. 

“ It is the end of the end ! ” said Ned Land. 

Suddenly light broke at each side of the saloon, 
through two oblong openings. The liquid mass ap- 
peared vividly lit up by the electric gleam. Two 
crystal plates separated us from the sea. At first I 
trembled at the thought that this frail partition might 
break, but strong bands of copper bound them, giving 
an almost infinite power of resistance. 

The sea was distinctly visible for a mile all round the 
Nautilus. What a spectacle ! What pen can describe 


io6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


it? Who could paint the effects of the light through 
those transparent sheets of water, and the softness of 
the successive graduations from the lower to the 
superior strata of the ocean? 

We know the transparency of the sea, and that its 
clearness is far beyond that of rock water. The 
mineral and organic substances which it holds in 
suspension heightens its transparency. In certain 
parts of the ocean at the Antilles, under seventy-five 
fathoms of water, can be seen with surprising clear- 
ness a bed of sand. The penetrating power of the 
solar rays does not seem to cease for a depth of one 
hundred and fifty fathoms. But in this middle fluid 
travelled over by the Nautilus, the electric brightness 
was produced even in the bosom of the waves. It was 
no longer luminous water, but liquid light. 

On each side a window opened into this unexplored 
abyss. The obscurity of the saloon showed to ad- 
vantage the brightness outside, and we looked out as 
if this pure crystal had been the glass of an immense 
aquarium. 

“ You wished to see, friend Ned ; well, you see 
now.” 

Curious ! curious ! ” muttered the Canadian, who, 
forgetting his ill-temper, seemed to submit to some 
irresistible attraction ; and one would come further 
than this to admire such a sight ! ” 

‘‘ Ah ! ” thought I to myself, “ I understand the life 
of this man; he has made a world apart for himself, 
in which he treasures all his greatest wonders.” 

For two whole hours an aquatic army escorted the 
Nautilus. During their games, their bounds, whik* 
rivalling each other in beauty, brightness, and veloci%% 


UNDER THE SEA 


107 


I distinguished the green labre; the banded mullet, 
marked by a double line of black; the round-tailed 
goby, of a white colour, with violet spots on the back ; 
the Japanese scombrus, a beautiful mackerel of those 
seas, with a blue body and silvery head; the brilliant 
azurors, whose name alone defies description; some 
banded spares, with variegated fins of blue and yellow ; 
some aclostones, the woodcocks of the seas, some 
specimens of which attain a yard in length; Japanese 
salamanders, spider lampreys, serpents six feet long, 
with eyes small and lively, and a huge mouth brist- 
ling with teeth ; with many other species. 

Our imagination was kept at its height, interjections 
followed quickly on each other. Ned named the fish, 
and Conseil classed them. I was in ecstacies with the 
vivacity of their movements and the beauty of their 
forms. Never had it been given to me to surprise 
these animals, alive and at liberty, in their natural 
element. I will not mention all the varieties which 
passed before my dazzled eyes, all the collection of 
the seas of China and Japan. These fish, more 
numerous than the birds of the air, came, attracted, 
no doubt, by the brilliant focus of the electric light. 

Suddenly there was daylight in the saloon, the iron 
panels closed again, and the enchanting vision dis- 
appeared. But for a long time I dreamt on till my 
eyes fell on the instruments hanging on the partition. 
The compass still showed the course to be N.N.E., the 
manometer indicated a pressure of five atmospheres, 
equivalent to a depth of twenty-five fathoms, and the 
electric log gave a speed of fifteen miles an hour. 
I expected Captain Nemo, but he did not appear. 
The clock marked the hour of five. 


I08 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Ned Land and Conseil returned to their cabin, and 
I retired to my chamber. My dinner was ready. It 
was composed of turtle soup made of the most delicate 
hawkbills, of a surmullet served with puff paste (the 
liver of which, prepared by itself, was most delicious), 
and fillets of the emperor-holocanthus, the savour of 
which seemed to me superior even to salmon. 

I passed the evening reading, writing, and thinking. 
Then sleep overpowered me, and I stretched myself 
on my couch of zostera, and slept profoundly, whilst 
the Nautilus was gliding rapidly through the current 
of the Black River. 


CHAPTER XIV 


A NOTE OF INVITATION 

The next day was the 9th of November. I awok« 
after a long sleep of twelve hours. Conseil came, ac- 
cording to custom, to know “ how I had passed the 
night,’’ and to offer his services. He had left his 
friend the Canadian sleeping like a man who had 
never done anything else all his life. I let the worthy 
fellow chatter as he pleased, without caring to answer 
him. I was pre-occupied by the absence of the Cap- 
tain during our sitting of the day before, and hoping 
to see him to-day. 

As soon as I was dressed I went into the saloon. It 
was deserted. 

I plunged into the study of the conchological 
treasures hidden behind the glasses. I revelled also 
in great herbals filled with the rarest marine plants, 
which, although dried up, retained their lovely colours. 
Amongst these precious hydrophytes I remarked some 
vorticellæ, pavonariæ, delicate ceramies with scarlet 
tints, some fan-shaped agari, and some natabuli like 
flat mushrooms, which at one time used to be classed 
as zoophytes; in short, a perfect series of algæ. 

The whole day passed without my being honoured 
by a visit from Captain Nemo. The panels of the 
saloon did not open. Perhaps they did not wish us 
to tire of these beautiful things. 


no 


TWENTY THOUS:?«^ LEAGUES 


The course of the Nautilus was E.N.E., her speed 
twelve knots, the depth below the surface between 
twenty-five and thirty fathoms. 

The next day, loth of November, the same deser- 
tion, the same solitude. I did not see one of the ship’s 
crew: Ned and Conseil spent the greater part of the 
day with me. They were astonished at the inexplic- 
able absence of the Captain. Was this singular 
man ill? — ^had he altered his intentions with regard 
to us? 

After all, as Conseil said, we enjoyed perfect liberty, 
we were delicately and abundantly fed. Our host kept 
to his terms of the treaty. We could not complain, 
and, indeed, the singularity of our fate reserved such 
wonderful compensation for us, that we had no right 
to accuse it as yet. 

That day I commenced the journal of these ad- 
ventures which has enabled me to relate them with 
more scrupulous exactitude and minute detail. I 
wrote it on paper made from the zostera marina. 

nth November, early in the morning. The fresh 
air spreading over the interior of the Nautilus told 
me that we had come to the surface of the ocean to 
renew our supply of oxygen. I directed my steps to 
the central staircase, and mounted the platform. 

It was six o’clock, the weather was cloudy, the sea 
grey but calm. Scarcely a billow. Captain Nemo, 
whom I hoped to meet, would he be there? I saw 
no one but the steersman imprisoned in his glass cage. 
Seated upon the projection formed by the hull of the 
pinnace, I inhaled the salt breeze with delight. 

By degrees the fog disappeared under the action 
of the sun’s rays, the radiant orb rose from behind 


UNDER THE SEA 


HÎ 


the eastern horizon. The sea flamed under its glance 
like a train of gunpowder. The clouds scattered in 
the heights were coloured with lively tints of beautiful 
shades, and numerous “ mare’s tails,” which betokened 
wind for that day. But what was wind to this 
Nautilus which tempests could not frighten ! 

I was admiring this joyous rising of the sun, so 
gay, and so lifegiving, when I heard steps appproach- 
ing the platform. I was prepared to salute Captain 
Nemo, but it was his second (whom I had alre,ady 
seen on the Captain’s first visit) who appeared. He 
advanced on the platform not seeming to see me. 
With his powerful glass to his eye he scanned every 
point of the horizon with great attention. This exam- 
ination over, he approached the panel and pronounced 
a sentence in exactly these terms. I have remem- 
bered it, for every morning it was repeated under 
exactly the same conditions. It was thus worded — 

“ Nautron respoc lorni virch.” 

What it meant I could not say. 

These words pronounced, the second descended. 
I thought that the Nautilus was about to return to its 
submarine navigation. I regained the panel and re- 
turned to my chamber. 

Five days sped thus, without any change in our 
situation. Every morning I mounted the platform. 
The same phrase was pronounced by the same in- 
dividual. But Captain Nemo did not appear. 

I had made up my mind that I should never see 
him again, when, on the i6th November, on returning 
to my room with Ned and Conseil, I found upon my 
table a note addressed to me. I opened it impatiently. 
It was written in a bold, clear hand, the characters 


II2 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


rather pointed, recalling the German type. The note 
was worded as follows : — 


i6th of November, 1867. 

“To Professor Aronnax, on board the Nautilus. 

“Captain Nemo invites Professor Aronnax to a hunting- 
party, which will take place to-morrow morning in the forests 
of the island of Crespo. He hopes that nothing will prevent 
the Professor from being present, and he will with pleasure 
see him joined by his companions. 

“ Captain Nemo, Commander of the Nautilus** 

‘‘A hunt!” exclaimed Ned. 

“ And in the forests of the island of Crespo ! ” added 
Conseil. 

“ Oh ! then the gentleman is going on terra firmaf ” 
replied Ned Land. 

“ That seems to me to be clearly indicated,” said 
I, reading the letter once more. 

“ Well, we must accept,” said the Canadian. “ But 
once more on dry ground, we shall know what to do. 
Indeed, I shall not be sorry to eat a piece of fresh 
venison.” 

Without seeking to reconcile what was contradictory 
between Captain Nemo’s manifest aversion to islands 
and continents, and his invitation to hunt in a forest, 

I contented myself with replying 

Let us first see where the island of Crespo is.” 

I consulted the planisphere, and in 32° 40' north 
lat., and 157° 50' west long., I found a small island, 
recognised in 1801 by Captain Crespo, and marked in 
the ancient Spanish maps as Rocca de la Plata, the 
meaning of which is “ The Silver Rock.” We were 
then about eighteen hundred miles from our starting- 


UNDER THE SEA 


1 13 


point, and the course of the Nautilus, a little changed, 
was bringing it back towards the south-east. 

I showed this little rock lost in the midst of the 
North Pacific to my companions. 

“ If Captain Nemo does sometimes go on dry 
ground,” said I, “ he at least chooses desert islands.” 

Ned Land shrugged his shoulders without speaking, 
and Conseil and he left me. 

After supper, which was served by the steward mute 
and impassive, I went to bed, not without some 
anxiety. 

The next morning, the 17th of November, on awak- 
ening I felt that the Nautilus was perfectly still. I 
dressed quickly and entered the saloon. 

Captain Nemo was there, waiting for me. He rose, 
bowed, and asked me if it was convenient for me to 
accompany him. As he made no allusion to his 
absence during the last eight days, I did not mention 
it, and simply answered that my companions and my- 
self were ready to follow him. 

We entered the dining-room, where breakfast was 
served. 

M. Aronnax,” said the Captain, pray share my 
breakfast without ceremony; we will chat as we eat. 
For though I promised you a walk in the forest, I 
did not undertake to find hotels there. So breakfast 
as a man who will most likely not have his dinner till 
very late.” 

I did honour to the repast. It was composed of 
several kinds of fish, and slices of holothuridæ (excel- 
lent zoophytes), and different sorts of sea- weed. Our 
drink consisted of pure water, to which the Captain 
added some drops of a fermented liquor, extracted 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


by the Kamschatcha method from a sea-weed known 
under the name of Rhodomenia palmata. Captain 
Nemo ate at first without saying a word. Then he 
began — 

“ Sir, when I proposed to you to hunt in my sub- 
marine forest of Crespo, you evidently thought me 
mad. Sir, you should never judge lightly of any 
man.” 

“ But, Captain, believe me ” 

‘‘ Be kind enough to listen, and you will then see 
whether you have any cause to accuse me of folly and 
contradiction.” 

I listen.” 

You know as well as I do. Professor, that man can 
live under water, providing he carries with him a 
sufficient supply of breathable air. In submarine 
works, the workman, clad in an impervious dress, with 
his head in a metal helmet, receives air from above 
by means of forcing pumps and regulators.” 

“ That is a diving apparatus,” said I. 

Just so, but under these conditions the man is not 
at liberty ; he is attached to the pump which sends him 
air through an india-rubber tube, and if we were 
obliged to be thus held to the Nautilus, we could not 
go far.” 

“ And the means of getting free ?” I asked. 

“ It is to use the Rouquayrol apparatus, invented by 
two of your own countrymen, which I have brought to 
perfection for my own use, and which will allow you 
to risk yourself under these new physiological con- 
ditions, without any organ whatever suffering. It 
consists of a reservoir of thick iron plates, in which I 
store the air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres. 


UNDER THE SEA 


115 


This reservoir is fixed on the back by means of braces, 
like a soldier’s knapsack. Its upper part forms a box 
in which the air is kept by means of a bellows, and 
therefore cannot escape unless at its normal tension. 
In the Rouquayrol apparatus such as we use, two 
india-rubber pipes leave this box and join a sort of 
tent which holds the nose and mouth ; one is to intro- 
duce fresh air, the other to let out the foul, and the 
tongue closes one or the other according to the wants 
of the respirator. But I, in encountering great pres- 
sures at the bottom of the sea, was obliged to shut 
my head, like that of a diver, in a ball of copper ; and 
it is to this ball of copper that the two pipes, the in- 
spirator and the expirator, open.” 

“Perfectly, Captain Nemo; but the air that you 
carry with you must soon be used; when it only con- 
tains fifteen per cent, of oxygen, it is no longer fit 
to breathe.” 

“ Right ! but I told you, M. Arronax, that the pumps 
of the NautUtiS allow me to store the air under con- 
siderable pressure, and on these conditions, the reser- 
voir of the apparatus can furnish breathable air for 
nine or ten hours.” 

“ I have no further objections to make,” I answered; 
“ I will only ask you one thing, Captain — how can you 
light your road at the bottom of the sea ? ” 

“ With the Ruhmkorff apparatus, M. Aronnax ; one 
is carried on the back, the other is fastened to the 
waist. It is composed of a Bunsen pile, which I do 
not work with bichromate of potash, but with sodium. 
A wire is introduced which collects the electricity pro- 
duced, and directs it towards a particularly made 
lantern. In this lantern is a spiral glass which con- 


Ii6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


tains a small quantity of carbonic gas. When the ap- 
paratus is at work this gas becomes luminous, giving 
out a white and continuous light. Thus provided, I 
can breathe and I can see.” 

“ Captain Nemo, to all my objections you make 
such crushing answers, that I dare no longer doubt. 
But if I am forced to admit the Rouquayrol and 
Ruhmkorfif apparatus, I must be allowed some reser- 
vations with regard to the gun I am to carry.” 

But it is not a gun for powder,” answered the 
Captain. 

“ Then it is an air-gun.” 

‘‘ Doubtless ! How would you have me manufac- 
ture gunpowder on board, without either saltpetre, 
sulphur or charcoal?” 

Besides,” I added, “ to fire under water in a 
medium eight hundred and fifty-five times denser than 
the air, we must conquer very considerable resistance.” 

“ That would be no difficulty. There exist guns, 
according to Fulton, perfected in England by Philip 
Coles and Burley, in France by Furcy, and in Italy 
by Landi, which are furnished with a peculiar system 
of closing, which can fire under these conditions. But 
I repeat, having no powder, I use air under great pres- 
sure, which the pumps of the Nautilus furnish abund- 
antly.” 

“ But this air must be rapidly used ? ” 

Well, have I not my Rouquayrol reservoir, which 
can furnish it at need? A tap is all that is required. 
Besides, M. Aronnax, you must see yourself that, 
during our submarine hunt, we can spend but little 
air and but few balls.” 

“ But it seems to me that in this twilight, and ia 


UNDER THE SEA 


117 


the midst of this fluid, which is very dense compared 
with the atmosphere, shots could not go far, nor easily 
prove mortal.” 

“ Sir, on the contrary, with this gun every blow is 
mortal ; and however lightly the animal is touched, it 
falls as if struck by a thunderbolt.” 

‘‘ Why?” 

“ Because the balls sent by this gun are not or- 
dinary balls, but little cases of glass (invented by 
Leniebroek, an Austrian chemist), of which I have 
a large supply. These glass cases are covered with 
a case of steel, and weighted with a pellet of lead; 
they are real Leyden bottles, into which the electricity 
is forced to a very high tension. With the slightest 
shock they are discharged, and the animal, however 
strong it may be, falls dead. I must tell you that these 
cases are size number four, and that the charge for 
an ordinary gun would be ten.” 

“ I will argue no longer,” I replied, rising from the 
table ; I have nothing left me but to take my gun. 
At all events, I will go where you go.” 

Captain Nemo then led me aft; and in passing be- 
fore Conseil’s cabin, I called my two companions, who 
followed immediately. We then came to a kind of 
cell near the machinery-room, in which we were to 
put on our walking-dress. 


CHAPTER XV 


^ A WALK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

This cell was, to speak correctly, the arsenal and 
wardrobe of the Nautilus. A dozen diving appara- 
tuses hung from the partition, waiting our use. 

Ned Land, on seeing them, showed evident repug- 
nance to dress himself in one. 

“ But, my worthy Ned, the forests of the Island of 
Crespo are nothing but submarine forests. ’’ 

‘‘ Good ! ” said the disappointed harpooner, who saw 
his dreams of fresh meat fade away. “ And you, M. 
Aronnax, are you going to dress yourself in those 
clothes ? '' 

“ There is no alternative, Master Ned.’' 

“ As you please, sir,” replied the harpooner, shrug- 
ging his shoulders ; “ but as for me, unless I am forced, 
I will never get into one.” 

“ No one will force you. Master Ned,” said Captain 
Nemo. 

“ Is Conseil going to risk it?” asked Ned. 

“ I follow my master wherever he goes,” replied 
Conseil. 

At the Captain’s call two of the ship’s crew came 
to help us to dress in these heavy and impervious 
clothes, made of india-rubber without seam, and con- 
structed expressly to resist considerable pressure. 
One would have thought it a suit of armour, both 


UNDER THE SEA 


1 19 


supple and resisting. This formed trousers and waist- 
coat. The trousers were finished off with thick boots, 
weighted with heavy leaden soles. The texture of 
the waistcoat was held together by bands of copper, 
which crossed the chest, protecting it from the great 
pressure of the water, and leaving the lungs free to 
act; the sleeves ended in gloves, which in no way 
restrained the movement of the hands. There was a 
vast difference noticeable between these consummate 
apparatuses and the old cork breastplates, jackets, and 
other contrivances in vogue during the eighteenth 
century. 

Captain Nemo and one of his companions (a sort 
of Hercules, who must have possessed great strength), 
Conseil, and myself, were soon enveloped in the 
dresses. There remained nothing more to be done 
but enclose our heads in the metal box. But before 
proceeding to this operation, I asked the Captain’s 
permission to examine the guns we were to carry. 

One of the Nautilus men gave me a simple gun, 
the butt end of which, made of steel, hollow in the 
centre, was rather large. It served as a reservoir for 
compressed air, which a valve, worked by a spring, 
allowed to escape into a metal tube. A box of pro- 
jectles, in a groove in the thickness of the butt end, 
contained about twenty of these electric balls, which, 
by means of a spring, were forced into the barrel of 
the gun. As soon as one shot was fired, another was 
ready. 

Captain Nemo,” said I, “ this arm is perfect, and 
easily handled ; I only ask to be allowed to try it. 
But how shall we gain the bottom of the sea ? ” 

“ At this moment. Professor, the Nautilus is 


120 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


stranded in five fathoms, and we have nothing to do 
but to start/' 

‘‘ But how shall we get off ? " 

“ You shall see." 

Captain Nemo thrust his head into the helmet, Con- 
seil and I did the same, not without hearing an ironical 

Good sport ! " from the Canadian. The upper part 
of our dress terminated in a copper collar, upon which 
was screwed the metal helmet. Three holes, protected 
by thick glass, allowed us to see in all directions, by 
simply turning our head in the interior of the head- 
dress. As soon as it was in position, the Rouquayrol 
apparatus on our backs began to act ; and, for my part, 
I could breathe with ease. 

With the Ruhmkorff lamp hanging from my belt, 
and the gun in my hand, I was ready to set out. But 
to speak the truth, imprisoned in these heavy garments, 
and glued to the deck by my leaden soles, it was impos- 
sible for me to take a step. 

But this state of things was provided for. I felt 
myself being pushed into a little room contiguous to 
the wardrobe-room. My companions followed, towed 
along in the same way. I heard a water-tight door, 
furnished with stopper-plates, close upon us, and we 
were wrapped in profound darkness. 

After some minutes, a loud hissing was heard. I 
felt the cold mount my feet to my chest. Evidently 
from some part of the vessel they had, by means of 
a tap, given entrance to the water, which was invading 
us, and with which the room was soon filled. A 
second door cut in the s-ide of the Nautilus then 
opened. We saw a faint light. In another instant 
our feet trod the bottom of the sea. 



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UNDER THE SEA 


121 


And now, how can I retrace the impression left upon 
me by that walk under the waters? Words are im- 
potent to relate such wonders ! Captain Nemo walked 
in front, his companion followed some steps behind. 
Conseil and I remained near each other, as if an 
exchange of words had been possible through our me- 
tallic cases. I no longer felt the weight of my cloth- 
ing, or of my shoes, of my reservoir of air, or my thick 
helmet, in the midst of which my head rattled like 
an almond in its shell. 

The light, which lit the soil thirty feet below the 
surface of the ocean, astonished me by its power. 
The solar rays shone through the watery mass easily, 
and dissipated all colour, and I clearly distinguished 
objects at a distance of a hundred and fifty yards. 
Beyond that the tints darkened into fine gradations of 
ultramarine, and faded into vague obscurity. Truly 
this water which surrounded me was but another air 
denser than the terrestrial atmosphere, but almost as 
transparent. Above me was the calm surface of the 
sea. 

We were walking on fine even sand, not wrin- 
kled, as on a flat shore, which retains the impres- 
sion of the billows. This dazzling carpet, really a 
reflector, repelled the rays of the sun with wonderful 
intensity, which accounted for the vibration which 
penetrated every atom of liquid. Shall I be believed 
when I say that, at the depth of thirty feet, I could 
see as if I was in broad daylight? 

For a quarter of an hour I trod on this sand, sown 
with the impalpable dust of shells. The hull of the 
Nautilus, resembling a long shoal, disappeared by 
degrees; but its lantern, when darkness should over- 


122 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


take us in the waters, would help to guide us on board 
by its distinct rays. 

Soon forms of objects outlined in the distance were 
discernible. I recognized magnificent rocks, hung 
with a tapestry of zoophites of the most beautiful 
kind, and I was at first struck by the peculiar effect 
of this medium. 

It was then ten in the morning; the rays of the sun 
struck the surface of the waves at rather an oblique 
angle, and at the touch of their light, decomposed by 
refraction as through a prism, flowers, rocks, plants, 
shells, and polypi were shaded at the edges by the 
seven solar colours. It was marvellous, a feast for 
the eyes, this complication of coloured tints, a perfect 
kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, 
and blue; in one word, the whole palette of an en- 
thusiastic colourist! Why could I not communicate 
to Conseil the lively sensations which were mounting 
to my brain, and rival him in expressions of admira- 
tion? For aught I knew, Captain Nemo and his com- 
panion might be able to exchange thoughts by means 
of signs previously agreed upon. So, for want of 
better, I talked to myself; I declaimed in the copper 
box which covered my head, thereby expending more 
air in vain words than was perhaps expedient. 

Various kinds of isis, clusters of pure tuft-coral, 
prickly fungi, and anemones, formed a brilliant garden 
of flowers, enamelled with porphitæ, decked with their 
collar-ettes of blue tentacles, sea-stars studding the 
sandy bottom, together with asterophytons like fine 
lace embroidered by the hands of naiads, whose fes- 
toons were waved by the gentle undulations caused by 
our walk. It was a real grief to me to crush under 


UNDER THE SEA 


123 


my feet the brilliant specimens of molluscs which 
strewed the ground by thousands, of hammer-heads, 
donaciæ, (veritable bounding shells), of staircases, 
and red helmet-shells, angel-wings, and many others 
produced by this inexhaustible ocean. But we were 
bound to walk, so we went on, whilst above our heads 
waved shoals of physalides leaving their tentacles to 
float in their train, medusæ whose umbrellas of opal 
or rose-pink, escalloped with a band of blue, sheltered 
us from the rays of the sun and fiery pelagiæ, which, 
in the darkness, would have strewn our path with 
phosphorescent light. 

All these wonders I saw in the space of a quarter 
of a mile, scarcely stopping, and following Captain 
Nemo, who beckoned me on by signs. Soon the 
nature of the soil changed; to the sandy plain suc- 
ceeded an extent of slimy mud, which the Americans 
call ooze,^’ composed of equal parts of silicious and 
calcareous shells. We then travelled over a plain of 
sea-weed of wild and luxuriant vegetation. This 
sward was of close texture, and soft to the feet, and 
rivalled the softest carpet woven by the hand of man. 
But whilst verdure was spread at our feet, it did not 
abandon our heads. A light network of marine 
plants, of that inexhaustible family of sea-weeds of 
which more than two thousand kinds are known, grew 
on the surface of the water. I saw long ribbons of 
fucus floating, some globular, others tuberous ; 
laurenciæ and cladostephi of most delicate foliage, and 
some rhodomeniæ palmatæ, resembling the fan of a 
cactus. I noticed that the green plants kept nearer the 
top of the sea, whilst the red were at a greater depth, 
leaving to the black or brown hydrophytes the care of 


124 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


forming gardens and parterres in the remote beds 
of the ocean. 

We had quitted the Nautilus about an hour and a 
half. It was near noon; I knew by the perpendicu- 
larity of the sun’s rays, which were no longer refracted. 
The magical colours disappeared by degrees, and 
the shades of emerald and sapphire were effaced. 
We walked with a regular step, which rang upon the 
ground with astonishing intensity; the slightest noise 
was transmitted with a quickness to which the ear is 
unaccustomed on the earth; indeed, water is a better 
conductor of sound than air, in the ratio of four to 
one. At this period the earth sloped downwards ; the 
light took a uniform tint. We were at a depth of a 
hundred and five yards and twenty inches, under- 
going a pressure of six atmospheres. 

At this depth I could still see the rays of the sun, 
though feebly; to their intense brilliancy had suc- 
ceeded a reddish twilight, the lowest state between day 
and night; but we could still see well enough; it was 
not necessary to resort to the Ruhmkor^ apparatus 
as yet. At this moment Captain Nemo stopped; he 
waited till I joined him, and then pointed to an obscure 
mass, looming in the shadow, at a short distance. 

It is the forest of the Island of Crespo,” thought 
I ; — and I was not mistaken. 


CHAPTER XVI 


A SUBMARINE FOREST 

We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest, 
doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo’s immense 
domains. He looked upon it as his own, and considered 
he had the same right over it that the first men had in 
the first days of the world. And, indeed, who would 
have disputed with him the possession of this sub- 
marine property? What other hardier pioneer would 
come, hatchet in hand, to cut down the dark copses? 

This forest was composed of large tree-plants ; and 
the moment we penetrated under its vast arcades, I 
was struck by the singular position of their branches — 
a position I had not yet observed. 

Not a herb which carpeted the ground, not a branch 
which clothed the trees, was either broken or bent, nor 
did they extend horizontally; all stretched up to the 
surface of the ocean. Not a filament, not a ribbon, 
however thin they might be, but kept as straight 
as a rod of iron. The fuci and llianas grew in 
rigid perpendicular lines, due to the density of the 
element which had produced them. Motionless, yet 
when bent to one side by the hand, they directly re- 
sumed their former position. Truly it was the region 
of perpendicularity! 

I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, 
as well as to the comparative darkness which sur- 


126 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


rounded us. The soil of the forest seemed covered 
with sharp blocks, difficult to avoid. The submarine 
flora struck me as being very perfect, and richer even 
than it would have been in the arctic or tropical zones, 
where these productions are not so plentiful. But for 
some minutes I involuntarily confounded the genera, 
taking zoophytes for hydrophytes, animals for plants; 
and who would not have been mistaken? The fauna 
and the flora are too closely allied in this submarine 
world. 

These plants are self-propagated, and the principle 
of their existence is in the water, which upholds and 
nourishes them. The greater number, instead of 
leaves, shot forth blades of capricious shapes, com- 
prised within a scale of colours, — pink, carmine, green, 
olive, fawn, and brown. I saw there (but not dried 
up, as our specimens of the Nautilus are) pavonari 
spread like a fan, as if to catch the breeze; scarlet 
ceramies, whose laminaries extended their edible 
shoots of fern-shaped nereocysti, which grow to a 
height of fifteen feet; clusters of acetabuli, whose 
stems increase in size upwards ; and numbers of other 
marine plants, all devoid of flowers! 

“ Curious anomaly, fantastic element ! said an in- 
genious naturalist, “ in which the animal kingdom 
blossoms, and the vegetable does not ! ” 

Under these numerous shrubs (as large as trees 
of the temperate zone), and under their damp shadow, 
were massed together real bushes of living flowers, 
hedges of zoophytes, on which blossomed some 
zebrameandrines, with crooked grooves, some yellow 
caryophylliæ ; and, to complete the allusion, the fish- 
flies flew from branch to branch like a swarm of hum- 


UNDER THE SEA 


I2> 

ming-birds, whilst yellow lepisacomthi, with bristling 
jaws, dactylopteri, and monocentrides rose at our feet 
like a flight of snipes. 

In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to 
halt. I, for my part, was not sorry, and we stretched 
ourselves under an arbour of alariæ, the long thin 
blades of which stood up like arrows. 

This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was 
nothing wanting but the charm of conversation; but, 
impossible to speak, impossible to answer, I only put 
my great copper head to ConseiTs. I saw the worthy 
fellow's eyes glistening with delight, and to show his 
satisfaction, he shook himself in his breastplate of air 
in the most comical way in the world. 

After four hours of this walking I was surprised 
not to find myself dreadfully hungry. How to ac- 
count for this state of the stomach I could not tell. 
But instead I felt an insurmountable desire to sleep, 
which happens to all divers. And my eyes soon 
closed behind the thick glasses, and I fell into a heavy 
slumber, which the movement alone had prevented 
before. Captain Nemo and his robust companion, 
stretched in the clear crystal, set us the example. 

How long I remained buried in this drowsiness 
I cannot judge; but, when I woke, the sun seemed 
sinking towards the horizon. Captain Nemo had al- 
ready risen, and I was beginning to stretch my limbs, 
when an unexpected apparition brought me briskly 
to my feet. 

A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider, about thirty- 
eight inches high, was watching me with squinting 
eyes, ready to spring upon me. Though my diver’s 
dress was thick enough to defend me from the bite 


128 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of this animal, I could not help shuddering with 
horror. Conseil and the sailor of the Nautilus awoke 
at this moment. Captain Nemo pointed out the hide- 
ous crustacean, which a blow from the butt end of the 
gun knocked over, and I saw the horrible claws of 
the monster writhe in terrible convulsions. This ac- 
cident reminded me that other animals more to be 
feared might haunt these obscure depths, against 
whose attacks my diving-dress would not protect me. 
I had never thought of it before, but I now resolved 
to be upon my guard. Indeed, I thought that this 
halt would mark the termination of our walk; but I 
was mistaken, for, instead of returning to the Nautilus^ 
Captain Nemo continued his bold excursion. The 
ground was still on the incline, its declivity seemed 
to be getting greater, and to be leading us to greater 
depths. It must have been about three o’clock when 
we reached a narrow valley, between high perpen- 
dicular walls, situated about seventy-five fathoms deep. 
Thanks to the perfection of our apparatus, we were 
forty-five fathoms below the limit which nature seems 
to have imposed on man as to his submarine excur- 
sions. 

I say seventy-five fathoms, though I had no instru- 
ment by which to judge the distance. But I knew 
that even in the clearest waters the solar rays could 
not penetrate further. And accordingly the darkness 
deepened. At ten paces not an object was visible. I 
was groping my way, when I suddenly saw a brilliant 
white light. Captain Nemo had just put his electric 
apparatus into use; his companion did the same, and 
Conseil and I followed their example. By turning a 
screw I established a communication between the wire 


UNDER THE SEA 


129 


and the spirial glass, and the sea, lit by our four 
lanterns, was illuminated for a circle of thirty-six 
yards. 

Captain Nemo was still plunging into the dark 
depths of the forest, whose trees were getting scarcer 
at every step. I noticed that vegetable life disap- 
peared sooner than animal life. The medusae had 
already abandoned the arid soil, from which a great 
number of animals, zoophytes, articulata, molluscs, 
and fishes, still obtained sustenance. 

As we walked, I thought the light of our Ruhmkorff 
apparatus could not fail to draw some inhabitant from 
its dark couch. But if they did approach us, they at 
least kept at a respectful distance from the hunters. 
Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop, put his gun 
to his shoulder, and after some moments drop it and 
walk on. At last, after about four hours, this mar- 
vellous excursion came to an end. A wall of superb 
rocks, in an imposing mass, rose before us, a heap of 
gigantic blocks, an enormous steep granite shore, 
forming dark grottos, but which presented no practi- 
cable slope; it was the prop of the Island of Crespo. 
It was the earth! Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. 
A gesture of his brought us all to a halt, and however 
desirous I might be to scale the wall, I was obliged 
to stop. Here ended Captain Nemo’s domains. And 
he would not go beyond them. Further on was a 
portion of the globe he might not trample upon. 

The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to 
the head of his little band, directing their course with- 
out hesitation. I thought we were not following the 
same road to return to the Nautilus. The new road 
was very steep, and consequently very painful. We 


130 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


approached the surface of the sea rapidly. But this 
return to the upper strata was not so sudden as to 
cause relief from the pressure too rapidly, which 
might have produced serious disorder in our organisa- 
tion, and brought on internal lesions, so fatal to divers. 
Very soon light reappeared and grew, and the sun 
being low on the horizon, the refraction edged the dif- 
ferent objects with a spectral ring. At ten yards and 
a half deep, we walked amidst a shoal of little fishes 
of all kinds, more numerous than the birds of the air, 
and also more agile; but no aquatic game worthy of 
a shot had as yet met our gaze, when at that moment 
I saw the Captain shoulder his gun quickly, and fol- 
low a moving object into the shrubs. He fired; — I 
heard a slight hissing, and a creature fell stunned at 
some distance from us. It was a magnificent sea-otter, 
an enhydrus, the only exclusively marine quadruped. 
This otter was five feet long, and must have been very 
valuable. Its skin, chestnut-brown above, and silvery 
underneath, would liave made one of those beautiful 
furs so sought after in the Russian and Chinese mar- 
kets; the fineness and the lustre of its coat would 
certainly fetch £8o. I admired this curious mammal, 
with its rounded head ornamented with short ears, 
its round eyes and white whiskers like those of a cat, 
with webbed feet and nails, and tufted tail. This 
precious animal, hunted and tracked by fishermen, has 
now become very rare, and taken refuge chiefly in the 
northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race 
would soon become extinct. 

Captain Nemo’s companion took the beast, threw it 
over his shoulder, and we continued our journey. For 
one hour a plain of sand lay stretched before us. Some- 


UNDER THE SEA 


131 


times it rose to within two yards and some inches of 
the surface of the water. I then saw our image clearly 
reflected, drawn inversely, and above us appeared an 
identical group reflecting our movements and our 
actions ; in a word, like us in every point, except that 
they walked with their heads downward and their feet 
in the air. 

Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of 
thick clouds which formed and vanished rapidly; but 
on reflection I understood that these seeming clouds 
were due to the varying thickness of the reeds at the 
bottom, and I could even see the fleecy foam which 
their broken tops multiplied on the water, and the 
shadows of large birds passing above our heads, whose 
rapid flight I could discern on the surface of the sea. 

On this occasion, I was witness to one of the finest 
gun-shots which ever made the nerves of a hunter 
thrill. A large bird of great breadth of wing, clearly 
visible, approached, hovering over us. Captain Nemo’s 
companion shouldered his gun and fired, when it was 
only a few yards above the waves. The creature fell 
stunned, and the force of its fall brought it within the 
reach of the dexterous hunter’s grasp. It was an 
albatross of the finest kind. 

Our march had not been interrupted by this inci- 
dent. For two hours we followed these sandy plains, 
then fields of algæ very disagreeable to cross. Can- 
didly, I could do no more when I saw a glimmer of 
light, which, for a half mile, broke the darkness of the 
waters. It was the lantern of the Nautilus. Before 
twenty minutes were over we should be on board, and 
I should be able to breathe with ease, for it seemed 
that my reservoir supplied air very deficient in oxygen. 


Ï32 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


But I did not reckon on an accidental meeting, which 
delayed our arrival for some time. 

I had remained some steps behind, when I presently 
saw Captain Nemo coming hurriedly towards me. 
With his strong hand he bent me to the ground, his 
companion doing the same to Conseil. At first I 
knew not what to think of this sudden attack, but I 
was soon reassured by seeing the Captain lie down 
beside me, and remain immovable. 

I was stretched on the ground, just under shelter 
of a bush of algæ, when, raising my head, I saw some 
enormous mass, casting phosphorescent gleams, pass 
blusteringly by. 

My blood froze in my veins as I recognised two for- 
midable sharks which threatened us. It was a couple 
of tintoreas, terrible creatures, with enormous tails 
and a dull glassy stare, the phosphorescent matter 
ejected from holes pierced around the muzzle. Mon- 
strous brutes ! which would crush a whole man in their 
iron jaws. I did not know whether Conseil stopped 
to classify them; for my part, I noticed their silver 
bellies, and their huge mouths bristling with teeth, 
from a very unscientific point of view, and more as a 
possible victim than as a naturalist. 

Happily the voracious creatures do not see well. 
They passed without seeing us, brushing us with their 
brownish fins, and we escaped by a miracle from a 
danger certainly greater than meeting a tiger full-face 
in the forest. Half an hour after, guided by the elec- 
tric light, we reached the Nautilus, The outside door 
had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it as 
soon as we had entered the first cell. He then pressed 
a knob. I heard the pumps working in the midst of 


UNDER THE SEA 


133 


the vessel, I felt the water sinking from around me, 
and in a few moments the cell was entirely empty. 
The inside door then opened, and we entered the 
vestry. 

There our diving-dress was taken off, not without 
some trouble ; and, fairly worn out from want of food 
and sleep, I returned to my room, in great wonder at 
this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea. 


CHAPTER XVII 


FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC 

The next morning, the i8th of November, I had quite 
recovered from my fatigues of the day before, and I 
went up on to the platform, just as the second lieu- 
tenant was uttering his daily phrase. 

I was admiring the magnificent aspect of the ocean 
when Captain Nemo appeared. He did not seem to 
be aware of my presence, and began a series of astro- 
nomical observations. Then, when he had finished, he 
went and leant on the cage of the watch-light, and 
gazed abstractedly on the ocean. In the meantime, a 
number of the sailors of the Nautilus, all strong and 
healthy men, had come up on to the platform. They 
came to draw up the nets that had been laid all 
night. These sailors were evidently of different na- 
tions, although the European type was visible in all 
of them. I recognised some unmistakable Irishmen, 
Frenchmen, some Sclaves, and a Greek or a Candiote. 
They were civil, and only used that odd language 
among themselves, the origin of which I could not 
guess, neither could I question them. 

The nets were hauled in. They were a large kind 
of “ chaluts,’' like those on the Normandy coasts, great 
pockets that the waves and a chain fixed in the smaller 
meshes, kept open. These pockets, drawn by iron 
poles, swept through the water, and gathered in every- 


UNDER THE SEA 


135 


thing in its way. That day they brought up curious 
specimens from those productive coasts, — ^fishing- 
frogs that, from their comical movements, have ac- 
quired the name of buffoons ; black commersons, 
furnished with antennæ ; trigger-fish, encircled* with 
red bands; orthragorisci, with very subtle venom; 
some olive-coloured lampreys; macrorhynci, covered 
with silvery scales; trichiuri, the electric power of 
which is equal to that of the gymnotus and cramp-fish ; 
scaly notopteri, with transverse brown bands; green- 
ish cod; several varieties of gobies, etc.; also some 
larger fish; a caranx with a prominent head a yard 
long; several fine bonitos, streaked with blue and 
silver; and three splendid tunnies, which, spite of 
the swiftness of their motion, had not escaped the 
net. * 

I reckoned that the haul had brought in more than 
nine hundred weight of fish. It was a fine haul, but 
not to be wondered at. Indeed, the nets are let down 
for several hours, and enclose in their meshes an in- 
finite variety. We had no lack of excellent food, and 
the rapidity of the Nautilus and the attraction of the 
electric light could always renew* our supply. These 
several productions of the sea were immediately 
lowered through the panel to the steward’s room, some 
to be eaten fresh, and others pickled. 

The fishing ended, the provision of air renewed, I 
thought that the Nautilus was about to continue its 
submarine excursion, and was preparing to return to 
my room, when, without further preamble, the Cap- 
tained turned to me, saying — 

“ Professor, is not this ocean gifted with real life ? 
it has its tempers and its gentle moods. Yesterday it 


136 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


slept as we did, and now it has woke after a quiet 
night. Look ! ” he continued, “ it wakes under the 
caresses of the sun. It is going to renew its diurnal 
existence. It is an interesting study to watch the play 
of its organisation. It has a pulse, arteries, spasms; 
and I agree with the learned Maury, who discovered 
in it a circulation as real as the circulation of blood in 
animals. 

Yes, the ocean has indeed circulation, and to pro- 
mote it, the Creator has caused things to multiply in 
it — caloric, salt, and animalculæ.” 

When Captain Nemo spoke thus, he seemed alto- 
gether changed, and aroused an extraordinary emotion 
in me. 

“Also,” he added, “true existence is there; and I 
can imagine the foundations of nautical towns, clus- 
ters of submarine houses, which, like the Nautilus, 
would ascend every morning to breathe at the surface 
of the water, free towns, independent cities. Yet who 
knows whether some despot ” 

Captain Nemo finished his sentence with a violent 
gesture. Then, addressing me as if to chase away some 
sorrowful thought — 

“ M. Aronnax,” he asked, “ do you know the depth 
of the ocean? ” 

“ I only know. Captain, what the principal sound- 
ings have taught us.” 

“ Could you tell me them, so that I can suit them 
to my purpose ? ” 

“ These are some,” I replied, “ that I remember. If 
I am not mistaken, a depth of 8000 yards has been 
found in the North Atlantic, and 2500 yards in the 
Mediterranean. The most remarkable soundings have 


UNDER THE SEA 


137 


been made in the South Atlantic, near the 35th par- 
allel, and they gave 12,000 yards, 14,000 yards, and 
15,000 yards. So sum up all, it is reckoned that if the 
bottom of the sea were levelled, its mean depth would 
be about one and three-quarter leagues.'' 

“Well, Professor," replied the Captain, “we shall 
show you better than that, I hope. As to the mean 
depth of this part of the Pacific, I tell you it is only 
4000 yards." 

Having said this. Captain Nemo went towards the 
panel, and disappeared down the ladder. I followed 
him, and went into the large drawing-room. The 
screw was immediately put in motion, and the log gave 
twenty miles an hour. 

During the days and weeks that passed. Captain 
Nemo was very sparing of his visits. I seldom saw 
him. The lieutenant pricked the ship's course regu- 
larly on the chart, so I could always tell exactly the 
route of the Nautilus. 

Nearly every day, for some time, the panels of the 
drawing-room were opened, and we were never tired 
of penetrating the mysteries of the submarine world. 

The general direction of the Nautilus was south- 
east, and it kept between 100 and 150 yards of depth. 
One day, however, I do not know why, being drawn 
diagonally by means of the inclined planes, it touched 
the bed of the sea. • The thermometer indicated a tem- 
perature of 4.25 (cent.) ; a temperature that at this 
depth seemed common to all latitudes. 

At three o’clock in the morning of the 26th of No- 
vember, the Nautilus crossed the tropic of Cancer at 
172° longitude. On the 27th instant it sighted the 
Sandwich Islands, where Cook died, February 14, 


138 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


1779. We had then gone 4860 leagues from our 
starting-point. In the morning^ when I went on the 
platform, I saw, two miles to windward, Hawaii, the 
largest of the seven islands that form the group. I 
saw clearly the cultivated ranges, and the several 
mountain chains that run parallel with the side, and 
the volcanoes that overtop Mouna-Rea, which rise 
5000 yards above the level of the sea. Besides other 
things the nets brought up, were several flabellariæ 
and graceful polypi, that are peculiar to that part of 
the ocean. The direction of the Nautilus was still to 
the south-east. It crossed the equator December i, in 
142° longitude; and on the 4th of the same month, 
after crossing rapidly and without anything particular 
occurring, we sighted the Marquesas group. I saw, 
three miles off, at 8° 57' latitude south, and 139° 32' 
west longitude, Martin’s peak in Nouka-Hiva, the 
largest of the group that belongs to France. I only 
saw the woody mountains against the horizon, because 
Captain Nemo did not wish to bring the ship to the 
wind. There the nets brought up beautiful specimens 
of fish ; choryphenes, with azure fins and tails like 
gold, the flesh of which is unrivalled; hologymnoses, 
nearly destitute of scales, but of exquisite flavour; 
ostorhyncs, with bony jaws, and yellow-tinged thas- 
ards, as good as bonitos ; all fish that would be of use 
to us. After leaving these charming islands protected 
by the French flag, from the 4th to the nth of Decem- 
ber the Nautilus sailed over about 2000 miles. This 
navigation was remarkable for the meeting with an 
immense shoal of calmars, near neighbours to the cut- 
tie. The French fishermen call them hornets; they 
belong to the cephalopod class, and to the dibranchial 


UNDER THE SEA 


139 


family, that comprehends the cuttles and the argo- 
nauts. These animals were particularly studied by 
students of antiquity, and they furnished numerous 
metaphors to the popular orators, as well as excellent 
dishes for the tables of the rich citizens, if one can 
believe Athenæus, a Greek doctor, who lived before 
Galen. It was during the night of the 9th or loth of 
December that the Nautilus came across this shoal of 
molluscs, that are peculiarly nocturnal. One could 
count them by millions. They emigrate from the tem- 
perate to the warmer zones, following the track oi 
herrings and sardines. We watched them through the 
thick crystal panes, swimming down the wind with 
great rapidity, moving by means of their locomotive 
tube, pursuing fish and molluscs, eating the little ones> 
eaten by the big ones, and tossing about in indescrib- 
able confusion the ten arms that nature has placed on 
their heads like a crest of pneumatic serpents. The 
Nautilus, in spite of its speed, sailed for several hours 
in the midst of these animals, and its nets brought in 
an enormous quantity, among which I recognised the 
nine species that D’Orbigny classed for the Pacific. 
One saw, while crossing, that the sea displays the most 
wonderful sights. They were in endless variety. The 
scene changed continually, and we were called upon 
not only to contemplate the works of the Creator in 
the midst of the liquid element, but to penetrate the 
awful mysteries of the ocean. 

During the daytime of the nth of December, I 
was busy reading in the large drawing-room. Ned 
Land and Conseil watched the luminous water through 
the half-open panels. The Nautilus was immovable. 
While its reservoirs were filled, it kept at a depth of 


140 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


1000 yards, a region rarely visited in the ocean, and 
in which large fish were seldom seen. 

I was then reading a charming book by Jean Macé, 
*‘The Slaves of the Stomach,’' and I was learning 
some valuable lessons from it, when Conseil inter- 
rupted me. 

“ Will master come here a moment ? ” he said, in a 
curious voice. 

“ What is the matter. Conseil ? ” 

“ I want master to look.” 

I rose, went and leaned on my elbows before the 
panes and watched. 

In a full electric light, an enormous black mass, 
quite immovable, was suspended in the midst of the 
waters. I watched it attentively, seeking to find out 
the nature of this gigantic cetacean. But a sudden 
thought crossed my mind. “ A vessel ! ” I said, half 
aloud. 

Yes,” replied the Canadian, “ a disabled ship that 
has sunk perpendicularly.” 

Ned Land was right ; we were close to a vessel of 
which the tattered shrouds still hung from their chains. 
The keel seemed to be in good order, and it had been 
wrecked at most some few hours. Three stumps of 
masts, broken off about two feet above the bridge, 
showed that the vessel had had to sacrifice its masts. 
But, lying on its side, it had filled, and it was heeling 
over to port. This skeleton of what it had once been, 
was a sad spectacle as it lay lost under the waves, but 
sadder still was the sight of the bridge, where some 
corpses, bound with ropes, were still lying. I counted 
five — four men, one of whom was standing at the 
helm, and a woman standing by the poop, holding an 


UNDER THE SEA 


141 


infant in her arms. She was quite young. I could 
distinguish her features, which the water had not de- 
composed, by the brilliant light from the Nautilus. In 
one despairing effort, she had raised her infant above 
her head, poor little thing! whose arms encircled its 
mother's neck. The attitude of the four sailors was 
frightful, distorted as they were by their convulsive 
movements, whilst making a last effort to free them- 
selves from the cords that bound them to the vessel. 
The steersman alone, calm, with a grave, clear face, 
his grey hair glued to his forehead, and his hand 
clutching the wheel of the helm, seemed even then to 
be guiding the three broken masts through the depths 
of the ocean. 

What a scene! W’e were dumb; our hearts beat 
fast before this shipwreck, taken as it were from life, 
and photographed in its last moments. And I saw 
already, coming towards it with hungry eyes, enor- 
mous sharks, attracted by the human flesh. 

However, the Nautilus, turning, went round the 
submerged vessel, and in one instaL'it I read on the 
stern — ‘'The Florida, Sunderland/' 


CHAPTER XVIII 


VANIKORO 

This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the 
series of maritime catastrophes that the Nautilus was 
destined to meet with in its route. As long as it went 
through more frequented waters, we often saw the 
hulls of shipwrecked vessels that were rotting in the 
depths, and deeper down, cannons, bullets, anchors, 
chains, and a thousand other iron materials eaten up 
by rust. However, on the nth of December, we 
sighted the Pomotou Islands, the old “ dangerous 
group ’’ of Bougainville, that extend over a space of 
500 leagues at E.S.E. to W.N.W., from the Island 
Dude to that of Lazareff. This group covers an area 
of 370 square leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups 
of islands, among which the Gambier group is re- 
markable, over which France exercises sway. These 
are coral islands, slowly raised, but continuous, cre- 
ated by the daily work of polypi. Then this new 
island will be joined later on to the neighbouring 
groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New 
Zealand and New Caledonia, and from thence to 
the Marquesas. 

One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Cap- 
tain Nemo, he replied coldly — 

‘‘ The earth does not want new continents, but new 
men.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


143 


Chance had conducted the Nautilus towards the 
Island of Clermont-Tonnere, one of the most curious 
of the group, that was discovered in 1822 by Captain 
Bell of the Minerva. I could study now the madre- 
poral system, to which are due the islands in this 
ocean. 

Madrepores (which must not be mistaken for corals) 
have a tissue lined with a calcareous crust, and the 
modifications of its structure have induced M. Milne 
Edwards, my worthy master, to class them into five 
sections. The animalculæ that the marine polypus 
secretes live by millions at the bottom of their cells. 
Their calcareous deposits become rocks, reefs, and 
large and small islands. Here they form a ring, sur- 
rounding a little inland lake, that communicates with 
the sea by means of gaps. There they make barriers 
of reefs like those on the coasts of New Caledonia and 
the various Pomoton islands. In other places, like 
those at Reunion and at Maurice, they raise fringed 
reefs, high, straight walls, near which the depth of 
the ocean is considerable. 

Some cable-lengths off the shores of the Island of 
Clermont I admired the gigantic work accomplished 
by these microscopical workers. These walls are spe- 
cially the work of those madrepores known as mille- 
poras, porites, madrepores, and astræas. These polypi 
are found particularly in the rough beds of the sea, 
near the surface ; and consequently it is from the upper 
part that they begin their operations, in which they 
bury themselves by degrees with the debris of the 
secretions that support them. Such is, at least, Dar- 
win’s theory, who thus explains the formation of the 
atolls, a superior theory (to my mind) to that given 


144 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of the foundation of the madreporical works, sum- 
mits of mountains or volcanoes, that are submerged 
some feet below the level of the sea. 

I could observe closely these curious walls, for per- 
pendicularly they were more than 300 yards deep, and 
our electric sheets lighted up this calcareous matter 
brilliantly. Replying to a question Conseil asked me 
as to the time these colossal barriers took to be raised, 
I astonished him much by telling him that learned 
men reckoned it about the eighth of an inch in a hun- 
dred years. 

Towards evening Clermont-Tonnerre was lost in 
the distance, and the route of the Nautilus was sen- 
sibly changed. After having crossed the tropic of 
Capricorn in 135® longitude, it sailed W.N.W., mak- 
ing again for the tropical zone. Although the sum- 
mer sun was very strong, we did not suflfer from heat, 
for at fifteen or twenty fathoms below the surface, 
the temperature did not rise above from ten to twelve 
degrees. 

On December 15, we left to the east the bewitching 
group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen 
of the Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to 
the ' windward, the elevated summits of the island. 
These waters furnished our table with excellent fish, 
mackerel, bonitos, and albicores, and some varieties of 
a sea-serpent called munirophis. 

On the 25th of December the Nautilus sailed into 
the midst of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros 
in 1606, and that Bougainville explored in 1768, and 
to which Cook gave its present name in 1773. This 
group is composed principally of nine large islands, 
that form a band of 120 leagues N.N.S. to S.S.W., 


UNDER THE SEA 


145 


between 15° and 2° south latitude, and 164® and 
168° longitude. We passed tolerably near to the 
island of Aurou, that at noon looked like a mass of 
green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height. 

That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed 
to regret sorely the non-celebration of “ Christmas,” 
the family fête of which Protestants are so fond. I 
had not seen Captain Nemo for a week, when, on the 
morning of the 27th, he came into the large drawing- 
room, always seeming as if he had seen you five min- 
utes before. I was busily tracing the route of the 
Nautilus on the planisphere. The Captain came up 
to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart and said 
this single word — 

“ Vanikoro.” 

The effect was magical! it was the name of the 
islands on which La Perouse had been lost! I rose 
suddenly. 

"‘The Nautilus has brought us to Vanikoro?” I 
asked. 

‘‘ Yes, Professor,” said the Captain. 

And I can visit the celebrated island where the 
Boussole and the Astrolabe struck? ” 

If you like. Professor.” 

When shall we be there ? ” 

“ We are there now.” 

Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the 
platform, and greedily scanned the horizon. 

To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal 
size, surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty 
miles in circumference. We were close to Vanikoro, 
really the one to which Dumont d’Urville gave the 
name of Isle de la Recherche, and exactly facing the 


146 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


little harbour of Vanou, situated in 16° 4' south lati- 
tude, and 164° 32' east longitude. The earth seemed 
covered with verdure from the shore to the summits 
in the interior, that were crowned by Mount Kapogo, 
476 ‘feet high. The Nautilus, having passed the outer 
belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself among 
breakers where the sea was from thirty to forty 
fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some man- 
groves I perceived some savages, who appeared sur- 
prised at our approach. In the long black body, mov- 
ing between wind and water, did they not see some 
formidable cetacean that they regarded with suspicion ? 

Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about 
the wreck of La Perouse. 

“Only what every one knows. Captain,” I replied. 

“ And could you tell me what every one knows about 
it ? ” he inquired, ironically. 

“ Easily.” 

I related to him all that the last works of Dumont 
d’Urville had made known — works from which the 
following is a brief account. 

La Perouse, and his second. Captain de Langle, 
were sent by Lous XVI., in 1785, on a voyage of cir- 
cumnavigation. They embarked in the corvettes the 
Boussole and the Astrolabe, neither of which were 
again heard of. In 1791, the French Government, 
justly uneasy as to the fate of these two sloops, manned 
two large merchantmen, the Recherche and the Es- 
pérance, which left Brest the 28th of September under 
the command of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. 

Two months after, they learned from Bowen, com- 
mander of the Albemarle, that the debris of ship- 
wrecked vessels had been seen on the coasts of New 


UNDER THE SEA 


147 


Georgia. But D’Entrecasteaux, ignoring this com- 
munication — rather uncertain, besides — directed his 
course towards the Admiralty Isles, mentioned in a 
report of Captain Hunter’s as being the place where 
La Perouse was wrecked. 

They sought in vain. The Espérance and the 
Recherche passed before Vanikoro without stopping 
there, and in fact, this voyage was most disastrous, 
as it cost D’Entrecasteaux his life, and those of twt> 
of his lieutenants, besides several of his crew. 

Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the 
first to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the 
15th of May, 1824, his vessel, the St. Patrick, passed 
close to Tikopia, one of the New Hebrides. There 
a Lascar came alongside in a canoe, sold him the handle 
of a sword in silver, that bore the print of characters 
engraved on the hilt. The Lascar pretended that six 
years before, during a stay at Vanikoro, he had seen 
two Europeans that belonged to some vessels that 
had run aground on the reefs some years ago. 

Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose 
disappearance had troubled the whole world. He tried 
to get on to Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, 
he would find numerous debris of the wreck, but 
winds and tide prevented him. 

Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested 
the Asiatic Society and the Indian Company in his 
discovery. A vessel, to which was given the name 
of the Recherche, was put at his disposal, and he set 
out, January 23, 1827, accompanied by a French 
agent. 

The Recherche, after touching at several points in 
the Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, July 7, 1827, 


148 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


in that same harbour of Vanou where the Nautilus 
was at this time. 

There it collected numerous relics of the wreck — 
iron utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 
1 8 Ib.-shot, fragments of astronomical instruments, a 
piece of crown-work, and a bronze clock, bearing this 
inscription — “ Basin m'a fait/' the mark of the foundry 
of the arsenal at Brest about 1785. There could be no 
further doubt. 

Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the un- 
lucky place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, 
and directed his course towards New Zealand; put 
into Calcutta, April 7, 1828, and returned to France, 
where he was warmly welcomed by Charles X. 

But at the same time, without knowing Dillon’s 
movements, Dumont d’Urville had already set out to 
find the scene of the wreck. And they had learned 
from a whaler that some medals and a cross of St. 
Louis had been found in the hands of some savages 
of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d’Urville, 
commander of the Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two 
months after Dillon had left Vanikoro, he put into 
Hobart Town. There he learned the results of Dillon’s 
inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs, 
second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after land- 
ing on an island situated 8° 18' south latitude, and 
156° 30' east longitude, had seen some iron bars and 
red stuffs used by the natives of these parts. Dumont 
d’Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to 
credit the reports of low-class journals, decided to 
follow Dillon’s track. 

On the loth of February, 1828, the Astrolabe ap- 
peared off Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter 


UNDER THE SEA 


149 


a deserter found on the island ; made his way to Vani- 
koro, sighted it on the 12th inst., lay among the reefs 
until the 14th, and not until the 20th did he cast 
anchor within the barrier in the harbour of Vanou. 

On the 23rd, several officers went round the island, 
and brought back some unimportant trifles. The 
natives, adopting a system of denials and evasions, 
refused to take them to the unlucky place. This 
ambiguous conduct led them to believe that the natives 
had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed they seeemd 
to fear that Dumont d’Urville had :come to avenge La 
Perouse and his unfortunate crew. 

However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, 
and understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, 
they led M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck. 

There, in three or four fathoms of water, between 
the reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, 
pigs of lead and iron, embedded in the limy concre- 
tions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the 
Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without 
some difficulty, their crews hauled up an anchor weigh- 
ing 1800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron and two 
copper swivel-guns. 

Dumont d’Urville, questioning the natives, learned, 
too, that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on 
the reefs of this island, had constructed a smaller boat, 
only to be lost a second time. Where ? — no one knew. 

But the French Government, fearing that Dumont 
d’Urville was not acquainted with Dillon’s movements, 
had sent the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Lego- 
arant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been sta- 
tioned on the west coast of America. The Bayonnaise 
cast her anchor before Vanikoro some months after 


150 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new docu- 
ment; but stated that the savages had respected the 
monument to La Perouse. That is the substance of 
what I told to Captain Nemo. 

“ So/' he said, “ no one knows now where the third 
vessel perished that was constructed by the castaways 
on the island of Vanikoro?" 

“ No one knows.” 

Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to 
follow him into the large saloon. The Nautilus sank 
several yards below the waves, and the panels were 
opened. 

I hastened to the aperture, and under the crusta- 
tions of coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, 
madrepores, through myriads of charming fish — 
girdles, glyphisidri, pompherides, diacopes, and holo- 
centres — 1 recognised certain debris that the drags 
had not been able to tear up — iron stirrups, anchors, 
cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the stem of a ship, 
all objects clearly proving the wreck of some vessel, 
and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was 
looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in 
a sad voice — 

‘‘ Commander La Perouse set out December 7, 1785, 
with his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He 
first cast anchor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly 
Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards 
Santa Cruz, and put into Namouka, one of the Hapaï 
group. Then his vessels struck on the unknown reefs 
of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went first, ran 
aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went 
to its help, and ran aground too. The first vessel was 
destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded 


UNDER THE SEA 


ISI 


under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made 
the castaways welcome. They installed themselves 
in tho island, and constructed a smaller boat with the 
debris of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed 
willingly at Vanikoro; the others, weak and ill, set 
out with La Perouse. They directed their course 
towards the Solomon Isles, and there perished, with 
everything, on the westerly coast of the chief island 
of the group, between Capes Deception and Satisfac- 
tion.” 

“ How do you know that ? ” 

“ By this, that I found on the spot where was the 
last wreck.” 

Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped 
with the French arms, and corroded by the salt water. 
He opened it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but 
still readable. 

They were the instructions of the naval minister to 
Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in 
Louis XVI.’s handwriting. 

** Ah ! it is a fine death for a sailor ! ” said Captain 
Nemo, at last. ‘‘ A coral tomb makes a quiet grave ; 
and I trust that I and my comrades will find no other.” 


CHAPTER XIX 


TORRES STRAITS 

During the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the 
Nautilus left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. 
Her course was south-westerly, and in three days she 
had gone over the 750 leagues that separated it from 
La Perouse's group and the south-east point of Papua. 

Early on the ist of January, 1863, Conseil joined 
me on the platform. 

“ Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy 
new year?” 

“ What ! Conseil ; exactly as if I were at Paris in 
my study at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept 
your good wishes, and thank you for them. Only, I 
will ask you what you mean by a ‘ Happy new year,’ 
under our circumstances ? Do you mean the year that 
will bring us to the end of our imprisonment, or the 
year that sees us continue this strange voyage ? ” 

“ Really, I do not know how to answer, master. 
We are sure to see curious things, and for the last 
two months we have not had time for ennui. The 
last marvel is always the most astonishing; and if we 
continue this progression, I do not know how it will 
end. It is my opinion that we shall never again see 
the like. I think, then, with no offence to master, 
that a happy year would be one in which we could 
see everything.” 


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153 


On January 2, we had made 11,340 miles, or 5250 
French leagues, since our starting-point in the Japan 
Seas. Before the ship’s head stretched the dangerous 
shores of the coral sea, on the north-east coast of 
Australia. Our boat lay along some miles from the 
redoubtable bank on which Cook’s vessel was lost, 
June 10, lyyo. The boat in which Cook was struck 
on a rock, and if it did not sink, it was owing to a 
piece of the coral that was broken by the shock, and 
fixed itself in the broken keel. 

I had wished to visit the reef, 360 leagues long, 
against which the sea,, always rough, broke with great 
violence, with a noise like thunder. But just then the 
inclined planes drew the Nautilus down to a great 
depth, and I could see nothing of the high coral walls. 
I had to content myself with the different specimens 
of fish brought up by the nets. I remarked, among 
others, some germons, a species of mackerel as large 
as a tunny, with bluish sides, and striped with 
transverse bands, that disappeared with the animal’s 
life. 

These fish followed us in shoals, and furnished us 
with very delicate food. We took also a large num- 
ber of giltheads, about one and a half inches long, 
tasting like dorys ; and flying pyrapeds like submarine 
swallows, which, in dark nights, light alternately the 
air and water with their phosphorescent light. Among 
the molluscs and zoophytes, I found in the meshes of 
the net several species of alcyonarians, echini, ham- 
mers, spurs, dials, cerites, and hyalleæ. The flora 
was represented by beautiful floating sea-weeds, lami- 
nariæ, and macrocystes, impregnated with the mucilage 
that transudes through their pores ; and among which 


154 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I gathered an admirable N emastoma Geliniarois, that 
was classed among the natural curiosities of the 
museum. 

Two days after crossing the coral sea, January 4, 
we sighted the Papuan coasts. On this occasion, Cap- 
tain Nemo informed me that his intention was to get 
into the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Torres. His 
communication ended there. 

The Torres Straits are nearly thirty-four leagues 
wide ; but they are obstructed by an innumerable 
quantity of islands, islets, breakers, and rocks, that 
make its navigation almost impracticable ; so that Cap- 
tain Nemo took all needful precautions to cross them. 
The Nautilus, floating betwixt wind and water, went 
at a moderate pace. Her screw, like a cetacean^s tail, 
beat the waves slowly. 

Profiting by this, I and my two companions went 
up on to the deserted platform. Before us was the 
steersman’s cage, and I expected that Captain Nemo 
was there directing the course of the Nautilus. I had 
before me the excellent charts of the Strait of Torres 
made out by the hydrographical engineer Vincendon 
Dumoulin. These and Captain King’s are the best 
charts that clear the intricacies of this strait, and I 
consulted them attentively. Round the Nautilus the 
sea dashed furiously. The course of the waves, that 
went from south-east to north-west at the rate of two 
and a half miles, broke on the coral that showed itself 
here and there. 

“ This is a bad sea ! ” remarked Ned Land. 

‘‘Detestable indeed, and one that does not suit a 
boat like the Nautilus’' 

“ The captain must be very sure of his route, for I 


UNDER THE SEA 


155 


see there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if 
it only touched them slightly/’ 

Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the Nautilus 
seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not 
follow the routes of the Astrolabe and the Zélée ex- 
actly, for they proved fatal to Dumont d’Urville. It 
bore more northwards, coasted the Island of Murray, 
and came back to the south-west towards Cumber- 
land Passage. I thought it was going to pass it by, 
when, going back to north-west, it went through a 
large quantity of islands and islets little known, 
towards the Island Sound and Canal Mauvais. 

I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, 
would steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont 
d’Urville’s two corvettes touched; when, swerving 
again, and cutting straight through to the west, he 
steered for the Island of Gilboa. 

It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began 
to recede, being quite full. The Nautilus approached 
the island, that I still saw, with its remarkable border 
of screw-pines. He stood off it at about two miles 
distant. Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The 
Nautilus just touched a rock, and stayed immovable, 
laying lightly to port side. 

When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his 
lieutenant on the platform. They were examining the 
situation of the vessel, and exchanging words in their 
incomprehensible dialect. 

She was situated thus: — Two miles, on the star- 
board side, appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to 
west like an immense arm. Towards the south and 
east some coral showed itself, left by the ebb, W'e had 
run aground, and in one of those seas where the tides 


t56 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


are middling, — a sorry matter for the floating of the 
Nautilus. However, the vessel had not suflfered, for 
her keel was solidly joined. But if she could neither 
glide off nor move, she ran the risk of going f(jr ever 
fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo’s 
submarine vessel would be done for. 

I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and 
calm, always master of himself, approached me. 

“ An accident ?” I asked. 

“ No ; an incident.” 

“ But an incident that will oblige you perhaps to 
become an inhabitant of this land from which you 
flee?” 

Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a 
negative gesture, as much as to say that nothing would 
force him to set foot on terra ûrma again. Then he 
said — 

“ Besides, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost ; it 
will carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the 
ocean. Our voyage is only begun, and I do not 
wish to be deprived so soon of the honour of your 
company.” 

“However, Captain Nemo,” I replied, without notic- 
ing the ironical turn of his phrase, “ the Nautilus ran 
aground in open sea. Now the tides are not strong in 
the Pacific; and if you cannot lighten the Nautilus,, 
I do not see how it will be reinflated.” 

“The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are 
right there. Professor ; but in Torres Straits, one finds 
still a difference of a yard and a half between the level 
of high and low seas. To-day is January 4, and in five 
days the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much 
astonished if that complaisant satellite does not raise 


UNDER THE SEA 


157 


these masses of water sufficiently, and render me a 
service that I should be indebted for/' 

Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his 
lieutenant, re-descended to the interior of the Nautilus. 
As to the vessel, it moved not, and was immovable, 
as if the coralline polypi had already walled it up with 
their indestructible cement. 

“Well, sir?" said Ned Land, who came up to me 
after the departure of the Captain. 

“ Well, friend Ned, we will wait patiently for the 
tide on the 9th instant; for it appears that the moon 
will have the goodness to put it off again." 

“ Really?" 

“ Really." 

“And this Captain is not going to cast anchor at 
all, since the tide will suffice ? " said Conseil, simply. 

The Canadian looked at Conseil, then shrugged his 
shoulders. 

“ Sir, you may believe me when I tell you that this 
piece of iron will navigate neither on nor under the 
sea again; it is only fit to be sold for its weight. I 
think, therefore, that the time has come to part com- 
pany with Captain Nemo." 

“ Friend Ned, I do not despair of this stout Nautilus, 
as you do; and in four days we shall know what to 
hold to on the Pacific tides. Besides, flight might be 
possible if we were in sight of the English or Provençal 
coasts ; but on the Papuan shores, it is another thing ; 
and it will be time enough to come to that extremity 
if the Nautilus does not recover itself again, which 
I look upon as a grave event." 

“But do they know, at least, how to act cir- 
cumspectly ? There is an island ; on that island there 


158 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


are trees ; under those trees, terrestrial animals, bearers 
of cutlets and roast-beef, to which I would willingly 
give a trial.” 

“ In this, friend Ned is right,” said Conseil, ‘‘ and 
I agree with him. Could not master obtain permis- 
sion from his friend Captain Nemo to put us on land, 
if only so as not to lose the habit of treading on the 
solid parts of our planet?” 

“ I can ask him, but he will refuse.” 

“ Will master risk it ? ” asked Conseil, “ and we shall 
know how to rely upon the Captain’s amiability.” 

To my great surprise Captain Nemo gave me the 
permission I asked for, and he gave it very agreeably, 
without even exacting from me a promise to return 
to the vessel ; but flight across New Guinea might be 
very perilous, and I should not have counselled Ned 
Land to attempt it. Better to be a prisoner on board 
the Nautilus than to fall into the hands of the natives. 

At eight o’clock, armed with guns and hatchets, we 
got off the Nautilus. The sea was pretty calm; a 
slight breeze blew on land. Conseil and I rowing, we 
sped along quickly, and Ned steered in the straight 
passage that the breakers left between them. The boat 
was well handled, and moved rapidly. 

Ned Land could not restrain his joy. He was like 
a prisoner that had escaped from prison, and knew not 
that it was necessary to re-enter it. 

“ Meat ! We are going to eat some meat ; and 
what meat ! ” he replied. “ Real game ! no, bread, 
indeed.” 

I do not say that fish is not good ; we must not 
abuse it; but a piece of fresh venison, grilled on live 
coals, will agreeably vary our ordinary course.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


159 


“ Gourmand ! said Conseil, “ he makes my mouth 
water.” 

“ It remains to be seen,” I said, “ if these forests are 
full of game, and if the game is not such as will hunt 
the hunter himself.” 

“ Well said, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, 
whose teeth seemed sharpened like the edge of a 
hatchet ; “ but I will eat tiger — loin of tiger — if there 
is no other quadruped on this island.” 

“ Friend Ned is uneasy about it,” said Conseil. 

“ Whatever it may be,” continued Ned Land, every 
animal with four paws without feathers, or with two 
paws without feathers, will be saluted by my first 
shot.” 

“Very well! Master Land’s imprudences are be- 
ginning.” 

“ Never fear, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian ; 
“ I do not want twenty-five minutes to offer you a dish 
of my sort.” 

At half-past eight the Nautilus boat ran softly 
aground, on a heavy sand, after having happily passed 
the coral reef that surrounds the Island of Gilboa. 


CHAPTER XX 


A FEW DAYS ON LAND 

I WAS much impressed on touching land. Ned Land 
tried the soil with his feet, as if to take possession of 
it. However, it was only two months before that we 
had become, according to Captain Nemo, “ passengers 
on board the Nautilus” but in reality, prisoners of its 
commander. 

In a few minutes we were within musket-shot of 
the coast. The soil was almost entirely madreporical, 
but certain beds of dried-up torrents, strewn with 
debris of granite, showed that this island was of the 
primary formation. The whole horizon was hidden 
behind a beautiful curtain of forests. Enormous trees, 
the trunks of which attained a height of 200 feet, were 
tied to each other by garlands of bindweed, real natural 
hammocks, which a light breeze rocked. They were 
mimosas, ficuses, casuarinæ, teks, hibisci, and palm- 
trees, mingled together in profusion; and under the 
shelter of their verdant vault grew orchids, leguminous 
plants, and ferns. 

But without noticing all these beautiful specimens 
of Papuan flora, the Canadian abandoned the agreeable 
for the useful. He discovered a cocoa-tree, beat down 
some of the fruit, broke them, and we drunk the milk 
and ate the nut, with a satisfaction that protested 
against the ordinary food on the Nautilus. 


UNDER THE SEA 


i6i 


“Excellent! ” said Ned Land. 

“ Exquisite ! ” replied Conseil. 

“ And I do not think,” said the Canadian, “ that he 
would object to our introducing a cargo of cocoa-nuts 
on board.” 

“ I do not think he would^ but he would not taste 
them.” 

“ So much the worse for him,” said Conseil. 

“ And so much the better for us,” replied Ned Land. 
“ There will be more for us.” 

“ One word only. Master Land,” I said to the har- 
pooner, who was beginning to ravage another cocoa- 
nut tree. “ Cocoa-nuts are good things, but before 
filling the canoe with them it would be wise to recon- 
noitre and see if the island does not produce some 
substance not less useful. Fresh vegetables would be 
welcome on board the Nautilus/' 

“ Master is right,” replied Conseil ; “ and I propose 
to reserve three places in our vessel, one for fruits, 
the other for vegetables, and the third for venison, of 
which I have not yet seen the smallest specimen.” 

“ Conseil, we must not despair,” said the Canadian. 

“ Let us continue,” I returned, “ and lie in wait. 
Although the island seems uninhabited, it might still 
contain some individuals that would be less hard than 
we on the nature of game.” 

“ Ho ! ho ! ” said Ned Land, moving his jaws sig- 
nificantly. 

“ Well, Ned ! ” cried Conseil. 

“ My word ! ” returned the Canadian, “ I begin to 
understand the charms of anthropophagy.” 

“Ned! Ned! what are you saying? You, a man- 
eater? I should not feel safe with you, especially as 


102 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I share your cabin. I might perhaps wake one day 
to find myself half devoured.’’ 

Friend Conseil, I like you much, but not enough to 
eat you unnecessarily.” 

‘‘ I would not trust you,” replied Conseil. ‘‘ But 
enough. We must absolutely bring down some game 
to satisfy this cannibal, or else one of these fine morn- 
ings, master will find only pieces of his servant to 
serve him.” 

While we were talking thus, we were penetrating the 
sombre arches of the forest, and for two hours we 
surveyed it in all directions. 

Chance rewarded our search for eatable vegetables, 
and one of the most useful products of the tropical 
zones furnished us with precious food that we missed 
on board. I would speak of the bread-fruit tree, very 
abundant in the Island of Gilboa; and I remarked 
chiefly the variety destitute of seeds, which bears in 
Malaya the name of “ rima.” 

Ned Land knew these fruits well. He had already 
eaten many during his numerous voyages, and he knew 
how to prepare the eatable substance. Moreover, the 
sight of them excited him, and he could contain 
himself no longer. 

'' Master,” he said, I shall die if I do not taste 
a little of this bread-fruit pie.” 

Taste it, friend Ned — taste it as you want. We are 
here to make experiments — make them.” 

It won’t take long,” said the Canadian. 

And provided with a lentil, he lighted a fire of dead 
wood, that crackled joyously. During this time, Con- 
seil and I chose the best fruits of the artocarpus. Some 
had not then attained a sufficient degree of maturity; 


UNDER THE SEA 


163 


and their thick skin covered a white but rather fibrous 
pulp. Others, the greater number yellow and gelati- 
nous, waited only to be picked. 

These fruits enclosed no kernel. Conseil brought a 
dozen to Ned Land, who placed them on a coal-fire, 
after having cut them in thick slices, and while doing 
this repeating — 

“ You will see, master, how good this bread is. 
More so when one has been deprived of it so long. 
It is not even bread,” added he, “ but a delicate pastry. 
You have eaten one, master?” 

No, Ned.” 

“ Very well, prepare yourself for a juicy thing. If 
you do not come for more, I am no longer the king of 
harpooners.” 

After some minutes, the part of the fruits that was 
exposed to the fire was completely roasted. The in- 
terior looked like a white pasty, a sort of soft crumb, 
the flavour of which was like that of an artichoke. 

It must be confessed this bread was excellent, and I 
ate of it with great relish. 

What time is it now ? ” asked the Canadian. 

“ Two o’clock at least,” replied Conseil. 

“ How time flies on firm ground ! ” sighed Ned Land. 

Let us be off,” replied Conseil. 

We returned through the forest, and completed our 
collection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we 
gathered from the tops of the trees, little beans that I 
recognised as the “ abrou ” of the Malays, and yams 
of a superior quality. 

We were loaded when we reached the boat. But 
Ned Lane did not find his provision sufficient. Fate, 
however, favoured us. Just as we were pushing off. 


x64 twenty thousand LEAGUES 


he perceived several trees, from twenty-five to thirty 
feet high, a species of palm-tree. These trees, as valua- 
ble as the artocarpus, justly are reckoned among the 
most useful products of Malaya. 

At last, at five o’clock in the evening, loaded with 
our riches, we quitted the shore, and half an hour 
after we hailed the Nautilus. No one appeared on our 
arrival. The enormous iron-plated cylinder seemed 
deserted. The provisions embarked, I descended to 
my chamber, and after supper slept soundly. 

The next day, January 6, nothing new on board. 
Not a sound inside, not a sign of life. The boat rested 
along the edge, in the same place in which we had left 
it. We resolved to return to the island. Ned Land 
hoped to be more fortunate than on the day before 
with regard to the hunt, and wished to visit another 
part of the forest. 

At dawn we set off. The boat, carried on by the 
waves that flowed to shore, reached the island in a 
few minutes. 

We landed, and thinking that it was better to give 
in to the Canadian, we followed Ned Land, whose 
long limbs threatened to distance us. He wound up 
the coast towards the west: then, fording some tor- 
rents, he gained the high plain that was bordered with 
admirable forests. Some kingfishers were rambling 
along the water-courses, but they would not let them- 
selves be approached. Their circumspection proved 
to me that these birds knew what to expect from bipeds 
of our species, and I concluded that, if the island was 
not inhabited, at least human beings occasionally 
frequented it. 

After crossing a rather large prairie, we arrived at 


UNDER THE SEA 


165 

the skirts of a little wood that was enlivened by the 
songs and flight of a large number of birds. 

“ There are only birds,” said Conseil. 

“ But they are eatable,” replied the harpooner. 

I do not agree with you, friend Ned, for I see only 
parrots there.” 

''Friend Conseil,” said Ned, gravely, "the parrot 
is like pheasant to those who have nothing else.” 

"And,” I added, “this bird, suitably prepared, is 
worth knife and fork.” 

Indeed, under the thick foliage of this wood, a world 
of parrots were flying from branch to branch, only 
needing a careful education to speak the human lan- 
guage. For the moment, they were chattering with 
parrots of all colours, and grave cockatoos, who seemed 
to meditate upon some philosophical problem, whilst 
brilliant red lories passed like a piece of bunting carried 
away by the breezes ; papuans, with the finest azure 
colours, and in all a variety of winged things most 
charming to behold, but few eatable. 

However, a bird peculiar to these lands, and which 
has never passed the limits of the Arrow and Papuan 
islands, was wanting in this collection. But fortune 
reserved it for me before long. 

After passing through a moderately thick copse, we 
found a plain obstructed with bushes. I saw then 
those magnificent birds, the disposition of whose long 
feathers obliges them to fly against the wind. Their 
undulating flight, graceful aerial curves, and the shad- 
ing of their colours, attracted and charmed one’s 
looks. I had no trouble in recognising them. 

" Birds of paradise ! ” I exclaimed. 

The Malays, who carry on a great trade in these 


i66 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


birds with the Chinese, have several means that we 
could not employ for taking them. Sometimes they 
put snares at the top of high trees that the birds of 
paradise prefer to frequent. Sometimes they catch 
them with a viscous birdlime that paralyses their move- 
ments. They even go so far as to poison the fountains 
that the birds generally drink from. But we were 
obliged to fire at them during flight, which gave us 
few chances to bring them down; and indeed, we 
vainly exhausted one half of our ammunition. 

About eleven o’clock in the morning, the first range 
of mountains that form the centre of the island was 
traversed, and we had killed nothing. Hunger drove 
us on. The hunters had relied on the products of 
the chase, and they were wrong. Happily Conseil, 
to his great surprise, made a double shot and secured 
breakfast. He brought down a white pigeon and a 
wood-pigeon, which, cleverly plucked and suspended 
from a skewer, was roasted before a red fire of dead 
wood. Whilst these interesting birds were cooking, 
Ned prepared the fruit of the artocarpus. Then the 
wood-pigeons were devoured to the bones, and declared 
excellent. The nutmeg, with which they are in the 
habit of stuffing their crops, flavours their flesh and 
renders it delicious eating. 

‘‘Now, Ned, what do you miss now?” 

“ Some four-footed game, M. Aronnax. All these 
pigeons are only side-dishes, and trifles; and until 
I have killed an animal with cutlets, I shall not be 
content.” 

“ Nor I, Ned, if I do not catch a bird of paradise.” 

“ Let us continue hunting,” replied Conseil. “ Let 
us go towards the sea. We have arrived at the first 


UNDER THE SEA 


167 


declivities of the mountains, and I think we had better 
regain the region of forests.” 

That was sensible advice, and was followed out. 
After walking for one hour, we had attained a forest 
of sago-trees. Some inoffensive serpents glided away 
from us. The birds of paradise fled at our approach, 
and truly I despaired of getting near one, when Con- 
seil, who was walking in front, suddenly bent down, 
uttered a triumphal cry, and came back to me bring- 
ing a magnificent specimen. 

‘‘Ah! bravo. Conseil!” 

“ Master is very good.” 

“ No, my boy ; you have made an excellent stroke. 
Take one of these living birds, and carry it in your 
hand.” 

“ If master will examine it, he will see that I have 
not deserved great merit.” 

“Why, Conseil?” 

“ Because this bird is as drunk as a quail.” 

“ Drunk!” 

“Yes, sir; drunk with the nutmegs that it devoured 
under the nutmeg-tree, under which I found it. See, 
friend Ned, see the awful effects of intemperance!” 

“ By Jove ! ” exclaimed the Canadian, “ because I 
have drunk gin for two months, you must needs re- 
proach me ! ” 

However, I examined the curious bird. Conseil was 
right. The bird, drunk with the juice, was quite 
powerless. It could not fly ; it could hardly walk. 

This bird belonged to the most beautiful of the eight 
species that are found in Papua and in the neighbour- 
ing islands. It was the “ large emerald bird, the most 
rare kind.” It measured three feet in length. Its 


168 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


head was comparatively small, its eyes placed near the 
opening of the beak, and also small. But the shades 
of colour were beautiful, having a yellow b€,ak, brown 
feet and claws, nut-coloured wings with purple tips, 
pale yellow at the back of the neck and head, and 
emerald colour at the throat, chestnut on the breast and 
belly. Two horned downy nets rose from below the 
tail, that prolonged the long feathers of admirable 
fineness, and they completed the whole of this marvel- 
lous bird, that the natives have poetically named the 
“ bird of the sun.” 

But if my wishes were satisfied by the possession 
of the bird of paradise, the Canadian’s were not yet. 
Happily about two o’clock Ned Land brought down a 
magnificent hog, from the brood of those the natives 
call ** bari-outang.” The animal came in time for us 
to procure real quadruped meat, and he was well re- 
ceived. Ned Land was very proud of his shot. The 
hog, hit by the electric ball, fell stone dead. The 
Canadian skinned and cleaned it properly, after hav- 
ing taken half-a-dozen cutlets, destined to furnish 
us with a grilled repast in the evening. Then the hunt 
was resumed, which was still more marked by Ned 
and Conseil’s exploits. 

Indeed, the two friends, beating the bushes, roused 
a herd of kangaroos, that fled and bounded along on 
their elastic paws. But these animals did not take 
flight so rapidly but what the electric capsule could 
stop their course. 

“ Ah, Professor ! ” cried Ned Land, who was car- 
ried away by the delights of the chase, “ what excel- 
lent game, and stewed too! What a supply for the 
Nautilus! two! three! five down! And to think that 



UNDER THE SEA 


169 


we shall eat that flesh, and that the idiots on board 
shall not have a crumb ! ” 

I think that, in the excess of his joy, ‘the Canadian, 
if he bad not talked so much, would have killed them 
all. But he contented himself with a single dozen of 
these interesting marsupians. These animals were 
small. They ^ere a species of those “ kangaroo rab- 
bits that live habitually in the hollows of trees, and 
whose speed is extreme; but they are moderately fat, 
and furnish, at least, estimable food. We were very 
satisfied with the results of the hunt. Happily Ned 
proposed to return to this enchanting island the next 
day, for he wished to depopulate it of all the eatable 
quadrupeds. But he reckoned without his host. 

At six o’clock in the evening we had regained the 
shore, our boat was moored to the usual place. The 
Nautilus, like a long rock, emerged from the waves 
two miles from the beach. Ned Land, without wait- 
ing, occupied himself about the important dinner busi- 
ness. He understood all about cooking well. The 

bari-outang,” grilled on the coals, soon scented the 
air with a delicious odour. 

Indeed, the dinner was excellent. Two wood-pigeons 
completed this extraordinary menu. The sago pasty, 
the artocarpus bread, some mangoes, half-a-dozen pine- 
apples, and the liquor fermented from some cocoa-nuts, 
overjoyed us. I even think that my worthy com- 
panion’s idea had not all the plainness desirable. 

“ Suppose we do not return to the Nautilus this 
evening?” said Conseil. 

^‘Suppose we never return?” added Ned Land. 

Just then a stone fell at our feet, and cut short the 
harpooner’s proposition. 


CHAPTER XXI 

CAPTAIN nemo’s THUNDERBOLT 

We looked at the edge of the forest without rising, 
my hand stopping in the action of putting it to my 
mouth, Ned Land’s completing its office. 

“ Stones do not fall from the sky,” remarked Con- 
seil, “or they would merit the name of aerolites.” 

A second stone, carefully aimed, that made a savoury 
pigeon’s leg fall from Conseil’s hand, gave still more 
weight to his observation. We all three arose, shoul- 
dered our guns, and were ready to reply to any attack. 

“Are they apes?” cried Ned Land. 

“Very nearly — they are savages.” 

“To the boat ! ” I said, hurrying to the sea. 

It was indeed necessary to beat a retreat, for about 
twenty natives armed with bows and slings, appeared 
on the skirts of a copse that masked the horizon to 
the right, hardly a hundred steps from us. 

Our boat was moored about sixty feet from us. The 
savages approached us, not running, but making hostile 
demonstrations. Stones and arrows fell thickly. 

Ned Land had not wished to leave his provisions; 
and, in spite of his imminent danger, his pig on one 
side, and kangaroos on the other, he went tolerably 
fast. In two minutes we were on the shore. To load 
the boat with provisions and- arms, to push it out to 
sea, and ship the oars, was the work of an instant. We 
had not gone two cable lengths, when a hundred 


UNDER THE SEA 


171 


savages, howling and gesticulating, entered the water 
up to their waists. I watched to see if their apparition 
would attract some men from the Nautilus on to the 
platform. But no. The enormous machine, lying off, 
was absolutely deserted. 

Twenty minutes later we were on board. The panels 
were open. After making the boat fast, we entered 
into the interior of the Nautilus. 

I descended to the drawing-room, from whence I 
heard some chords. Captain Nemo was, there, bend- 
ing over his organ, and plunged in a musical ecstasy. 

“ Captain!’’ 

He did not hear me. 

‘‘ Captain ! ” I said again, touching his hand. 

He shuddered, and turning round, said, ‘‘ Ah ! it is 
you. Professor? Well, have you had a good hunt, 
have you botanised successfully ? ” 

Yes, Captain ; but we have unfortunately brought a 
troop of bipeds, whose vicinity troubles me.” 

“ What bipeds?” 

“ Savages.” 

“ Savages ! ” he echoed, ironically. “ So you are 
astonished, Professor, at having set foot on a strange 
land and finding savages? Savages! where are there 
not any? Besides, are they worse than others, these 
whom you call savages ? ” 

“ But, Captain ” 

How many have you counted ? ” 

‘‘ A hundred at least.” 

“ M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, placing his 
fingers on the organ stops, “ when all the natives of 
Papua are assembled on this shore, the Nautilus will 
have nothing to fear from their attacks.” 


172 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


The Captain’s fingers were then running over the 
keys of the instrument, and I remarked that he touched 
only the black keys, which gave to his melodies an 
essentially Scotch character. Soon he had forgotten 
my presence, and had plunged into a reverie that I did 
not disturb. I went up again on to the platform: — 
night had already fallen; for, in this low latitude, the 
sun sets rapidly and without twilight. I could only see 
the island indistinctly; but the numerous fires, lighted 
^ on the beach, showed that the natives did not think of 
leaving it. I was alone for several hours, sometimes 
thinking of the natives, — but without any dread of 
them, for the imperturbable confidence of the Captain 
was catching, — sometimes forgetting them to admire 
the splendours of the night in the tropics. My re- 
membrances went to France, in the train of those 
zodiacal stars that would shine in some hours’ time. 
The moon shone in the midst of the constellations of 
the zenith. 

The night slipped away without any mischance, the 
islanders frightened no doubt at the sight of a mon- 
ster aground in the bay. The panels were open, and 
would have offered an easy access to the interior of 
the Nautilus. 

At six o’clock in the morning of the 8th of January, 
I went up on to the platform. The dawn was break- 
ing. The island soon showed itself through the dis- 
sipating fogs, first the shore, then the summits. 

The natives were there, more numerous than on the 
day before — 500 or 600 perhaps — some of them, prof- 
iting by the low water, had come on to the coral, at 
less than two cable lengths from the Nautilus. I dis- 
tinguished them easily; they were true Papuans, wit! 


UNDER THE SEA 


173 


athletic figures, men of good race, large high fore- 
heads, large, but not broad and flat, and white teeth. 
Their woolly hair, with a reddish tinge, showed off on 
their black shining bodies like those of the Nubians. 
From the lobes of their ears, cut and distended, hung 
chaplets of bones. Most of these savages were naked. 
Amongst them, I remarked some women, dressed 
from the hips to knees in quite a crinoline of herbs, 
that sustained a vegetable waistband. Some chiefs 
had ornamented their necks with a crescent and col- 
lars of glass beads, red and white; nearly all were 
armed with bows, arrows, and shields, and carried on 
their shoulders a sort of net containing those round 
stones which they cast from their slings with great 
skill. One of these chiefs, rather near to the Nau~ 
tilus, examined it attentively. He was, perhaps, a 
mado ” of high rank, for he was draped in a mat of 
banana leaves, notched round the edges, and set off 
with brilliant colours. 

I could easily have knocked down this native, who 
was within a short length ; but I thought that it was 
better to wait for real hostile demonstrations. Be- 
tween Europeans and savages, it is proper for the 
Europeans to parry sharply, not to attack. 

During low water the natives roamed about near 
the Nautilus, but were not troublesome ; I heard them 
frequently repeat the word “ Assai,” and by their ges- 
tures I understood that they invited me to go on land, 
an invitation that I declined. 

So that, on that day, the boat did not push off, to 
the great displeasure of Master Land, who could not 
complete his provisions. 

This adroit Canadian employed his time in prepar- 


174 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


mg the viands and meat that he had brought off the 
island. As for the savages, they returned to the shore 
about eleven o^clock in the morning, as soon as the 
coral tops began to disappear under the rising tide; 
but I saw their numbers had increased considerably 
on the shore. Probably they came from the neigh- 
bouring islands, or very likely from Papua. How- 
ever, I had not seen a single native canoe. Having 
nothing better to do, I thought of dragging these 
beautiful limpid waters, under which I saw a profu- 
sion of shells, zoophytes, and marine plants. More- 
over, it was the last day that the Nautilus would pass 
in these parts, if it float in open sea the next day, ac- 
cording to Captain Nemo’s promise. 

I therefore called Conseil, who brought me a little 
light drag, very like those for the oyster fishery. Now 
to work! For two hours we fished unceasingly, but 
without bringing up any rarities. The drag was filled 
with midas-ears, harps, melames, and particularly the 
most beautiful hammers I have ever seen. We also 
brought up some holothurias, pearl-oysters, and a 
dozen little turtles, that were reserved for the pantry 
on board. 

But just when I expected it least, I put my hand on 
a wonder, I might say a natural deformity, very 
rarely met with. Conseil was just dragging, and his 
net came up filled with divers ordinary shells, when, 
all at once, he saw me plunge my arm quickly into 
the net, to draw out a shell, and heard me utter a 
conchological cry, that is to say, the most piercing cry 
that human throat can utter. 

“ What is the matter, sir ? ” he asked, in surprise ; 
** has master been bitten ? ” 


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UNDER THE SEA 


175 


** No, my boy ; but I would willingly have given my 
finger for my discovery.” 

“ What discovery ? ” 

** This shell,” I said, holding up the object of my 
triumph. 

“ It is simply an olive porphyry, genus olive, order 
of the pectinibranchidæ, class of gasteropods, sub- 
class of mollusca.” 

“Yes, Conseil; but instead of being rolled from 
right to left, this olive turns from left to right” 

“ Is it possible ? ” 

“ Yes, my boy ; it is a left shell.” 

Shells are all right-handed with rare exceptions; 
and, when by chance their spiral is left, amateurs are 
ready to pay their weight in gold. 

Conseil and I were absorbed in the contemplation 
of our treasure, and I was promising myself to en- 
rich the museum with it, when a stone unfortunately 
thrown by a native, struck against, and broke the 
precious object in Conseirs hand. I uttered a cry of 
despair! Conseil took up his gun, and aimed at a 
savage who was poising his sling at ten yards from 
him. I would have stopped him, but his blow took 
effect, and broke the bracelet of amulets which encir- 
cled the arm of the savage. 

“ Conseil ! ” cried I ; “ Conseil ! ” 

“ Well, sir ! do you not see that the cannibal has 
commenced the attack.” 

“ A shell is not worth the life of a man,” said I. 

“ Ah ! the scoundrel ! ” cried Conseil ; “ I would 
rather he had broken my shoulder ! ” 

Conseil was in earnest, but I was not of his opinion. 
However the situation had changed some minutes be- 


176 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


fore, and we were not perceived. A score of canoes 
surrounded the Nautilus. These canoes, scooped out 
of the trunk of a tree, long, narrow, well adapted for 
speed, were balanced by means of a long bamboo pole, 
which floated on the water. They were managed by 
skilful half-naked paddlers and I watched their ad- 
vance with some uneasiness. It was evident that these 
Papuans had already had dealings with the Europeans, 
and knew their ships. But this long iron cylinder 
anchored in the bay, without masts or chimney, what 
could they think of it? Nothing good, for at first 
they kept at a respectful distance. However, seeing 
it motionless, by degrees they took courage, and 
sought to familiarise themselves with it. Now, this 
familiarity was precisely what it was necessary to 
avoid. Our arms, which were noiseless, could only 
produce a moderate effect on the savages, who have 
little respect for aught but blustering things. The 
thunderbolt without the reverberations of thunder 
would frighten man but little, though the danger lies 
in the lightning, not in the noise. 

At this moment the canoes approached the Nautilus, 
and a shower of arrows alighted on her. 

I went down to the saloon, but found no one there. 
I ventured to knock at the door that opened into the 
Captain’s room. “ Come in,” was the answer. 

I entered, and found Captain Nemo deep in alge- 
braical calculations of x and other quantities. 

“ I am disturbing you,” said I, for courtesy sake. 

‘'That is true, M. Aronnax,” replied the Captain; 
“ but I think you have serious reasons for wishing to 
see me ? ” 

“ Very grave ones ; the natives are surrounding us 


UNDER THE SEA 


177 


in their canoes, and in a few minutes we shall cer- 
tainly be attacked by many hundreds of savages.” 

“ Ah ! ” said Captain Nemo, quietly, “ they are come 
with their canoes?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“ Well, sir, we must close the hatches.” 

“ Exactly, and I came to say to you ” 

“ Nothing can be more simple,” said Captain Nemo. 
And pressing an electric button, he transmitted an 
order to the ship’s crew. 

“It is all done, sir,” said he, after some moments. 
“The pinnace is ready, and the hatches are closed. 
You do not fear, I imagine, that these gentlemen could 
stave in walls on which the balls of your frigate have 
had no effect?” 

“ No, Captain ; but a danger still exists.” 

“ What is that, sir ? ” 

“ It is that to-morrow, at about this hour, we must 
open the hatches to renew the air of the Nautilus, 
Now, if, at this moment, the Papuans should occupy 
the platform, I do not see how you could prevent them 
from entering.” 

“ Then, sir, you suppose that they will board us ? ” 

“ I am certain of it.” 

“ Well, sir, let them come. I see no reason for hin- 
dering them. After all, these Papuans are poor 
creatures, and I am unwilling that my visit to the 
Island of Gueberoan should cost the life of a single 
one of these wretches.” 

Upon that I was going away; but Captain Nemo 
detained me, and asked me to sit down by him. He 
questioned me with interest about our excursions on 
shore, and our hunting ; and seemed not to understand 


178 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


the craving for meat that possessed the Canadiart 
Then the conversation turned on various subjects, and 
without being more communicative, Captain Nemo 
showed himself more amiable. 

Amongst other things, we happened to speak of the 
situation of the Nautilus, run aground in exactly the 
same spot in this strait where Dumont d’Urville was 
nearly lost. Apropos of this — 

‘'This D’Urville was one of your great sailors,” 
said the Captain, to me, “ one of your most intelligent 
navigators. He is the Captain Cook of you French- 
men. Unfortunate man of science, after having 
braved the icebergs of the south pole, the coral reefs 
of Oceania, the cannibals of the Pacific, to perish 
miserably in a railway train! If this energetic man 
could have reflected during the last moments of his 
life, what must have been uppermost in his last 
thoughts, do you suppose ? ” 

So speaking. Captain Nemo seemed moved, and his 
emotion gave me a better opinion of him. Then, chart 
in hand, we reviewed the travels of the French navi- 
gator, his voyage of circumnavigation, his double de- 
tention at the south pole, which led to the discovery 
of Adelaide and Louis Philippe, and fixing the hydro- 
graphical bearings of the principal islands of Oceania. 

“ That which your D’Urville has done on the sur- 
face of the seas,” said Captain Nemo, “that have I 
done under them, and more easily, more completely 
than he. The Astrolabe and the Zelia, incessantly 
tossed about by the hurricanes, could not be worth the 
Nautilus, quiet repository of labour that she is, truly 
motionless in the midst of the waters.” 

“ To-morrow,” added the Captain, rising, “ to-mor- 


UNDER THE SEA 


179 


row, at twenty minutes to three p. M., the Nautilus 
shall float, and leave the Strait of Torres uninjured.” 

Having curtly pronounced these words, Captain 
Nemo bowed slightly. This was to dismiss me, and 
I went back to my room. 

There I found Conseil, who wished to know the re- 
sult of my interview with the Captain. 

My boy,” said I, “ when I feigned to believe that 
his Nautilus was threatened by the natives of Papua, 
the Captain answered me very sarcastically. I have 
but one thing to say to you : Have confidence in him, 
and go to sleep in peace.” 

** Have you no need of my services, sir ? ” 

“ No, my friend. What is Ned Land doing?” 

** If you will excuse me, sir,” answered Conseil, 
“ friend Ned is busy making a kangaroo-pie, which 
will be a marvel.” 

I remained alone, and went to bed, but slept indiffer- 
ently. I heard the noise of the savages, who stamped 
on the platform uttering deafening cries. The night 
passed thus, without disturbing the ordinary repose 
of the crew. The presence of these cannibals affected 
them no more than the soldiers of a masked battery 
care for the ants that crawl over its front. 

At six in the morning I rose. The hatches had not 
been opened. The inner air was not renewed, but the 
reservoirs, filled ready for any emergency, were now 
resorted to, and discharged several cubic feet of oxy- 
gen into the exhausted atmosphere of the Nautilus. 

I worked in my room till noon, without having seen 
Captain Nemo, even for an instant. On board no 
preparations for departure were visible. 

I waited still some time, then went into the large 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


i8o 


saloon. The clock marked half-past two. In ten 
minutes it would be high-tide: and, if Captain Nemo 
had not made a rash promise, the Nautilus would be 
immediately detached. If not, many months would 
pass ere she could leave her bed of coral. 

However, some warning vibrations began to be felt 
in the vessel. I heard the keel grating against the 
rough calcareous bottom of the coral reef. 

At five-and-twenty minutes to three, Captain Nemo 
appeared in the saloon. 

** We are going to start,’’ said he. 

“Ah!” replied L 

“ I have given the order to open the hatches.” 

“ And the Papuans ? ” 

“The Papuans?” answered Captain Nemo, slightly 
shrugging his shoulders. 

“Will they not come inside the Nautilus?'* 

“ How?” 

“ Only by leaping over the hatches you have 
opened.” 

“ M. Aronnax,” quietly answered Captain Nemo, 
“ they will not enter the hatches of the Nautilus in that 
way, even if they were open.” 

I looked at the Captain. 

“You do not understand?” said he. 

“ Hardly.” 

“ Well, come and you will see.” 

I directed my steps towards the central staircase. 
There Ned Land and Conseil were slyly watching 
some of the ship’s crew, who were opening the hatches, 
while cries of rage and fearful vociferations resounded 
outside. 

The port lids were pulled down outside. Twenty 


UNDER THE SEA 


i8i 


horrible faces appeared. But the first native who 
placed his hand on the stair-rail, struck from behind 
by some invisible force, I know not what, fled, uttering 
the most fearful cries, and making the wildest con- 
tortions. 

Ten of his companions followed him. They met 
with the same fate. 

Conseil was in ecstasy. Ned Land, carried away by 
his violent instincts, rushed on to the staircase. But 
the moment he seized the rail with both hands, he, in 
his turn, was overthrown. 

‘‘ I am struck by a thunderbolt,” cried he, with an 
oath. 

This explained all. It was no rail, but a metallic 
cable, charged with electricity from the deck, com- 
municating with the platform. Whoever touched it 
felt a powerful shock — and this shock would have been 
mortal, if Captain Nemo had discharged into the con- 
ductor the whole force of the current. It might truly ^ 
be said that between his assailants and himself he had 
stretched a network of electricity which none :could 
pass with impunity. 

Meanwhile, the exasperated Papuans had beaten a 
retreat, paralysed with terror. As for us, half laugh- 
ing, we consoled and rubbed the unfortunate Ned 
Land, who swore like one possessed. 

But, at this moment, the Nautilus, raised by the 
last waves of the tide, quitted her coral bed exactly 
at the fortieth minute fixed by the Captain. Her screw 
swept the waters slowly and majestically. Her speed 
increased gradually, and sailing on the surface of the 
ocean, she quitted safe and sound the dangerous 
passes of the Straits of Torres. 


CHAPTER XXII 


"ægri somnia" 

The following day, loth January, the Nautilus con- 
tinued her course between two seas, but with such 
remarkable speed that I could not estimate it at less 
than thirty-five miles an hour. The rapidity of her 
screw was such that I could neither follow nor count 
its evolutions. When I reflected that this marvellous 
electric agent, after having afforded motion, heat, 
and light to the Nautilus, still protected her from out- 
ward attack, and transformed her into an ark of 
safety, which no profane hand might touch without 
being thunderstricken, my admiration was unbounded, 
and from the structure it extended to the engineer who 
had called it into existence. 

Our course was directed to the west, and on nth 
January we doubled Cape Wessel, situated in 135° 
longitude, and 10° north latitude, which forms the 
east point of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The reefs were 
still numerous, but more equalised, and marked on 
the chart with extreme precision. The Nautilus easily 
avoided the breakers of Money to port, and the Vic- 
toria reefs to starboard, placed at 130° longitude, and 
on the tenth parallel which we strictly followed. 

On the 13th January, Captain Nemo arrived in the 
Sea of Timor, and recognised the island of that name 
in 122° longitude. 

From this point, the direction of the Nautilus in- 


UNDER THE SEA 


183 


dined towards the south-west. Her head was set 
for the Indian Ocean. Where would the fancy of 
Captain Nemo carry us next? Would he return to 
the coast of Asia? or would he approach again the 
shores of Europe? Improbable conjectures both, for 
a man who fled from inhabited continents. Then, 
would he descend to the south? Was he going to 
double the Cape of Good Hope, then Cape Horn, 
and finally go as far as the antarctic pole? Would 
he come back at last to the Pacific, where his Nautilus 
could sail free and independently? Time would show. 

After having skirted the sands of Cartier, of Hiber- 
nia, Seringapatam, and Scott, last efforts of the solid 
against the liquid element, on the 14th January we 
lost sight of land altogether. The speed of the Nau- 
tilus was considerably abated, and, with irregular 
course, she sometimes swam in the bosom of the 
waters, sometimes floated on their surface. 

During this period of the voyage. Captain Nemo 
made some interesting experiments on the varied tem- 
perature of the sea, in different beds. Under ordinary 
conditions, these observations are made by means of 
rather complicated instruments, and with somewhat 
doubtful results, by means of thermometrical sound- 
ing-leads, the glasses often breaking under the pres- 
sure of the water, or an apparatus grounded on the 
variations of the resistance of metals to the electric 
currents. Results so obtained could not be correctly 
calculated. On the contrary. Captain Nemo went 
himself to test the temperature in the depths of the 
sea, and his thermometer, placed in communication 
with the different sheets of water, gave him the re- 
quired degree immediately and accurately. 


i84 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


It was thus that, either by overloading her reser- 
voirs, or by descending obliquely by means of her 
inclined planes, the Nautilus successively attained the 
depth of three, four, five, seven, nine, and ten thou- 
sand yards, and the definite result of this experience 
was, that the sea preserved an average temperature 
of four degrees and a half, at a depth of five thousand 
fathoms, under all latitudes. 

On the 1 6th January, the Nautilus seemed becalmed, 
only a few yards beneath the surface of the waves. 
Her electric apparatus remained inactive, and her 
motionless screw left her to drift at the mercy of the 
currents. I supposed that the crew was occupied with 
interior repairs, rendered necessary by the violence of 
the mechanical movements of the machine. 

My companions and I then witnessed a curious 
spectacle. The hatches of the saloon were open, and 
as the beacon-light of the Nautilus was not in action, 
a dim obscurity reigned in the midst of the waters. 
I observed the state of the sea under these conditions, 
and the largest fish appeared to me no more than 
scarcely defined shadows, when the Nautilus found 
herself suddenly transported into full light. I thought 
at first that the beacon had been lighted, and was 
casting its electric radiance into the liquid mass. I 
was mistaken, and after a rapid survey, perceived my 
error. 

The Nautilus floated in the midst of a phosphores- 
cent bed, which, in this obscurity, became quite daz- 
zling. It was produced by myriads of luminous 
animalculæ, whose brilliancy was increased as they 
glided over the metallic hull of the vessel. I was sur- 
prised by lightning in the midst of these luminous 


UNDER THE SEA 


i8s 

sheets, as though they had been rivulets of lead melted 
in an ardent furnace, or metallic masses brought to 
a white heat, so that, by force of contrast, certain 
portions of light appeared to cast a shade in the midst 
of the general ignition, from which all shade seemed 
banished. No; this was not the calm irradiation of 
our ordinary lightning. There was unusual life and 
vigour; this was truly living light! 

In reality, it was an infinite agglomeration of 
coloured infusoria, of veritable globules of diaphanous 
jelly, provided with a thread-like tentacle, and of 
which as many as twenty-five thousand have been 
counted in less than two cubic half-inches of water; 
and their light was increased by the glimmering pecu- 
liar to the medusae, starfish, aurelia, and other phos- 
phorescent zoophytes, impregnated by the grease of 
the organic matter decomposed by the sea, and, per- 
haps, the mucus secreted by the fish. 

During several hours the Nautilus floated in these 
brilliant waves, and our admiration increased as we 
watched the marine monsters disporting themselves 
like salamanders. I saw there, in the midst of this 
fire that burns not, the swift and elegant porpoise 
(the indefatigable clown of the ocean), and some 
swordfish, ten feet long, those prophetic heralds of 
the hurricane, whose formidable sword would now 
and then strike the glass of the saloon. Then appeared 
the smaller fish, the variegated balista, the leaping 
mackerel, wolf-thorntails, and a hundred others which 
striped the luminous atmosphere as they swam. This 
dazzling spectacle was enchanting! Perhaps some 
atmospheric condition increased the intensity of this 
phenomenon. Perhaps some storm agitated the surface 


i86 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of the waves. But, at this depth of some yards, the 
Nautilus was unmoved by its fury, and reposed peace- 
fully in still water. 

So we progressed, incessantly charmed by some 
new marvel. Conseil arranged and classed his zoo- 
phytes, his articulata, his molluscs, his fishes. The 
days passed rapidly away, and I took no account of 
them. Ned, according to habit, tried to vary the diet 
on board. Like snails, we were fixed to our shells, 
and I declare it is easy to lead a snail’s life. 

Thus, this life seemed easy and natural, and we 
thought no longer of the life we led on land; but 
something happened to recall us to the strangeness 
of our situation. 

On the i8th of January, the Nautilus was in 105® 
longitude and 15° south latitude. The weather was 
threatening, the sea rough and rolling. There was a 
strong east wind. The barometer, which had been 
going down for some days, foreboded a coming storm. 
I went up on to the platform just as the second lieu- 
tenant was taking the measure of the horary angles, 
and waited, according to habit, till the daily phrase 
was said. But, on this day, it was exchanged for 
another phrase not less incomprehensible. Almost 
directly, I saw Captain Nemo appear, with a glass, 
looking towards the horizon. 

For some minutes he was immovable, without tak- 
ing his eye off the point of observation. Then he 
lowered his glass, and exchanged a few words with 
his lieutenant. The latter seemed to be a victim to 
some emotion that he tried in vain to repress. Cap- 
tain Nemo, having more command over himself, was 
cool. He seemed, too, to be making some objections. 


UNDER THE SEA 


187 


to which the lieutenant replied by formal assurances. 
At least I concluded so by the difference of their tones 
and gestures. For myself, I had looked carefully in 
the direction indicated without seeing anything. The 
sky and water were lost in the clear line of the horizon. 

However, Captain Nemo walked from one end of 
the platform to the other, without looking at me, per- 
haps without seeing me. His step was firm, but less 
regular than usual. He stopped sometimes, crossed 
his arms, and observed the sea. What could he be 
looking for on that immense expanse? 

The Nautilus was then some hundreds of miles from 
the nearest coast. 

The lieutenant had taken up the glass, and exam- 
ined the horizon steadfastly, going and coming, stamp- 
ing his foot and showing more nervous agitation than 
his superior officer. Besides, this mystery must nec- 
essarily be solved, and before long ; for, upon an order 
from Captain Nemo, the engine increasing its propel- 
ling power, made the screw turn more rapidly. 

Just then, the lieutenant drew the Captain’s atten- 
tion again. The latter stopped walking and directed 
his glass towards the place indicated. He looked long. 
I felt very much puzzled, and descended to the draw- 
ing-room, and took out an excellent telescope that I 
generally used. Then leaning on the edge of the 
watch-li^t, that jutted out from the front of the plat- 
form, set myself to look over all the line of the sky 
and sea. 

But my eye was no sooner applied to the glass, than 
it was quickly snatched out of my hands. 

I turned round. Captain Nemo was before me, but 
I did not know him. His face was transfigured. His 


i88 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


eyes flashed sullenly ; his teeth were set ; his stifiF body, 
clenched fists, and head shrunk between his shoulders, 
betrayed the violent agitation that pervaded his whole 
frame. He did not move. My glass, fallen from his 
hands, had rolled at his feet. 

Had I unwittingly provoked this fit of anger? Did 
this incomprehensible person imagine that I had dis- 
covered some forbidden secret? No; I was not the 
object of his hatred, for he was not looking at me, his 
eye was steadily fixed upon the impenetrable point of 
the horizon. At last Captain Nemo recovered him- 
self. His agitation subsided. He addressed some 
words in a foreign language to his lieutenant, then 
turned to me. “ M. Aronnax,” he said, in rather an 
imperious tone, “ I require you to keep one of the con- 
ditions that bind you to me.” 

“ What is it. Captain ? ” 

“You must be confined, with your companions, 
until I think fit to release you.” 

“ You are the master,” I replied, looking steadily at 
him. “ But may I ask you one question ? ” 

“ None, sir.” 

There was no resisting this imperious command, it 
would have been useless. I went down to the cabin 
occupied by Ned Land and Conseil, and told them the 
Captain’s determination. You may judge how this 
communication was received by the Canadian. 

But there was no time for altercation. Four of the 
crew waited at the door, and conducted us to that 
cell where we had passed our first night on board the 
Nautilus. 

Ned Land would have remonstrated, but the door 
was shut upon him. 


UNDER THE SEA 


189 


“Will master tell me what this means?’’ asked 
Conseil. 

I told my companions what had passed. They were 
as much astonished as I, and equally at a loss how to 
account for it. 

Meanwhile, I was absorbed in my own reflections, 
and could think of nothing but the strange fear de- 
picted in the Captain’s countenance. I was utterly 
at a loss to account for it, when my cogitations were 
disturbed by these words from Ned Land — 

“ Hallo ! breakfast is ready.” 

And indeed the table was laid. Evidently Captain 
Nemo had given this order at the same time that he 
had hastened the speed of the Nautilus. 

“ Will master permit me to make a recommenda- 
tion ? ” asked Conseil. 

“ Yes, my boy.” 

“ Well, it is that master breakfasts. It is prudent, 
for we do not know what may happen.” 

“ You are right. Conseil.” 

“ Unfortunately,” said Ned Land, “ they have only 
given us the ship’s fare.” 

“ Friend Ned,” asked Conseil, “ what would you 
have said if the breakfast had been entirely for- 
gotten ? ” 

This argument cut short the harpooner’s recrimi- 
nations. 

We sat down to table. The meal was -eaten in 
silence. 

Just then, the luminous globe that lighted the cell 
went out, and left us in total darkness. Ned Land 
was soon asleep, and what astonished me was that 
Conseil went off into a heavy sleep. I was thinking 


190 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


what could have caused his irresistible drowsiness, 
when I felt my brain becoming stupefied. In spite 
of my efforts to keep my eyes open, they would close. 
A painful suspicion seized me. Evidently soporific 
substances had been mixed with the food we had just 
taken. Imprisonment was not enough to conceal 
Captain Nemo’s projects from us, sleep was more 
necessary. 

I then heard the panels shut. The undulations of 
the sea, which caused a slight rolling motion, ceased. 
Had the Nautilus quitted the surface of the ocean? 

, Had it gone back to the motionless bed of water? I 
tried to resist sleep. It was impossible. My breath- 
ing grew weak. I felt a mortal cold freeze my stif- 
fened and half-paralysed limbs. My eyelids, like 
leaden caps, fell over my eyes. I could not raise 
them; a morbid sleep, full of hallucinations, bereft 
me of my being. Then the visions disappeared, and 
left me in complete insensibility. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


THE CORAL KINGDOM 

The next day I woke with my head singularly clear. 
To my great surprise I was in my own room. My 
companions, no doubt, had been reinstated in their 
cabin, without having perceived it any more than I. 
Of what had passed during the night they were as 
ignorant as I was, and to penetrate this mystery I 
only reckoned upon the chances of the future. 

I then thought of quitting my room. Was I free 
again or a prisoner? Quite free. I opened the door, 
went to the half-deck, went up the central stairs. The 
panels, shut the evening before, were open. I went 
on to the platform. 

Ned Land and Conseil waited there for me. I 
questioned them ; they knew nothing. Lost in a heavy 
sleep in which they had been totally unconscious, they 
had been astonished at finding themselves in their 
cabin. 

As for the Nautilus, it seemed quiet and mysterious 
as ever. It floated on the surface of the waves at a 
moderate pace. Nothing seemed changed on board. 

The second lieutenant then came on to the platform 
and gave the usual order below. 

As for Captain Nemo, he did not appear. 

Of the people on board, I only saw the impassive 
steward, who served me with his usual dumb regu- 
larity. 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


192. 


About two o’clock, I was in the drawing-room, 
busied in arranging my notes, when the Captain 
opened the door and appeared. I bowed. He made a 
slight inclination in return, without speaking. I re- 
sumed my work, hoping that he would perhaps give 
me some explanation of the events of the preceding 
night. He made none. I looked at him. He seemed 
fatigued; his heavy eyes had not been refreshed by 
sleep ; his face looked very sorrowful. He walked to 
and fro, sat down and got up again, took up a chance 
book, put it down, consulted his instruments without 
taking his habitual notes, and seemed restless and 
uneasy. At last, he came up to me, and said — 

Are you a doctor, M. Aronnax ? ” 

I so little expected such a question, that I stared 
some time at him without answering. 

“ Are you a doctor ? ” he repeated. “ Several of 
your colleagues have studied medicine.” 

“ Well,” said I, “ I am a doctor and resident sur- 
geon to the hospital. I practised several years before 
entering the museum.” 

‘‘Very well, sir.” 

My answer had evidently satisfied the Captain. 
But not knowing what he would say next, I waited 
for other questions, reserving my answers according 
to circumstances. 

“ M. Aronnax, will you consent to prescribe for 
one of my men ? ” he asked. 

“Is he ill?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ I am ready to follow you.” 

“ Come, then.” 

I own my heart beat, I do not know why, I saw a 


UNDER THE SEA 


193 


certain connection between the illness of one of the 
crew and the events of the day before ; and this mys- 
tery interested me at least as much as the sick man. 

Captain Nemo conducted me to the poop of the 
Nautilus, and took me into a cabin situated near the 
sailors’ quarters. 

There, on a bed, lay a man about forty years of 
age, with a resolute expression of countenance, a true 
type of an Anglo-Saxon. 

I leant over him. He was not only ill, he was 
wounded. His head, swathed in bandages covered 
with blood, lay on a pillow. I undid the bandages, 
and the wounded man looked at me with his large 
eyes and gave no sign of pain as I did it. It was a 
horrible wound The skull, shattered by some deadly 
weapon, left the brain exposed, which was much in- 
jured. Clots of blood had formed in the bruised and 
broken mass, in colour like the dregs of wine. 

There was both contusion and suffusion of the 
brain. His breathing was slow, and some spasmodic 
movements of the muscles agitated his face. I felt 
his pulse. It was intermittent. The extremities of 
the body were growing cold already, and I saw death 
must inevitably ensue. After dressing the unfortu- 
nate man’s wounds, I readjusted the bandages on his 
head, and turned to Captain Nemo. 

“ What caused this wound ?” I asked. 

“ What does it signify ? ” he replied, evasively. A 
shock has broken one of the levers of the engine, which 
struck myself. But your opinion as to his state ? ” 

I hesitated before giving it. 

“ You may speak,” said the Captain. “ This man 
does not understand French.” 


Î94 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I gave a last look at the wounded man. 

“ He will be dead in two hours.” 

‘‘Can nothing save him?” 

“ Nothing.” 

Captain Nemo’s hand contracted, and some tears 
glistened in his eyes, which I thought incapable of 
shedding any. 

For some moments I still watched the dying man, 
whose life ebbed slowly. His pallor increased under 
the electric light that was shed over his death-bed. I 
looked at his intelligent forehead, furrowed with pre- 
mature wrinkles, produced probably by misfortune and 
sorrow. I tried to learn the secret of his life from the 
last words that escaped his lips. 

“ You can go now, M. Aronnax,” said the Captain. 

I left him in the dying man’s cabin, and returned to 
my room much affected by this scene. During the 
whole day, I was haunted by uncomfortable suspi- 
cions, and at night I slept badly, and, between my 
broken dreams, I fancied I heard distant sighs like 
the notes of a funeral psalm. Were they the prayers 
of the dead, murmured in that language that I could 
not understand ? 

The next morning I went on the bridge. Captain 
Nemo was there before me. As soon as he perceived 
me he came to me. 

“ Professor, will it be convenient to you to make a 
submarine excursion to-day ? ” 

“ With my companions ?” I asked. 

“ If they like.” 

“We obey your orders. Captain.” 

“ Will you be so good then as to put on your cork- 
jackets ? ” 


UNDER THE SEA 


195 


It was not a question of dead or dying. I rejoined 
Ned Land and Conseil, and told them of Captain 
Nemo’s proposition. Conseil hastened to accept it, 
and this time the Canadian seemed quite willing to 
follow our example. 

It was eight o’clock in the morning. At half-past 
eight we were equipped for this new excursion, and ^ 
provided with two contrivances for light and breath- 
ing. The double door was open ; and accompanied by 
Captain Nemo, who was followed by a dozen of the 
crew, we set foot, at a depth of about thirty feet, on 
the solid bottom on which the Nautilus rested., 

A slight declivity ended in an uneven bottom, at 
fifteen fathoms depth. This bottom diflPered entirely 
from the one I had visited on my first excursion under 
the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here, there was no 
fine sand, no submarine prairies, no sea-forest. I im- 
mediately recognised that marvellous region in which, 
on that day, the Captain did the honours to us. It was 
the coral kingdom. In the zoophyte branch and in the 
alcyon class I noticed the gorgoneæ, the isidiæ, and 
the corollariæ. 

Tire light produced a thousand charming varieties, 
playing in the midst of the branches that were so viv- 
idly coloured. I seemed to see the membraneous 
and cylindrical tubes tremble beneath the undulation 
of the waters. I was tempted to gather their fresh 
petals, ornamented with delicate tentacules, some just 
blown, the others budding, while small fish, swim- 
ming swiftly, touched them slightly, like flights of 
birds. But if my hand approached these living flow- 
ers, these animated sensitive plants, the whole colony 
took alarm. The white petals re-entered their red 


196 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


cases, the flowers faded as I looked, and the bush 
changed into a block of stony knobs. 

Chance had thrown me just by the most precious 
specimens of this zoophyte. This coral was more val- 
uable than that found in the Mediterranean, on the 
coasts of France, Italy, and Barbary. Its tints justi- 
fied the poetical names of Flower of Blood,” and 

Froth of Blood,” that trade has given to its most 
beautiful productions. Coral is sold for £20 per ounce ; 
and in this place, the watery beds would make the 
fortunes of a company of coral-divers. This pre- 
cious matter, often confused with other polypi, formed 
then the inextricable plots called “ macciota,” and on 
which I noticed several beautiful specimens of pink 
coral. 

But soon the bushes contract, and the arborisations 
increase. Real petrified thickets, long joists of fan- 
tastic architecture, were disclosed before us. Captain 
Nemo placed himself under a dark gallery, where by 
a slight declivity we reached a depth of 100 yards. 
The light from our lamps produced sometimes magi- 
cal effects, following the rough outlines of the natural 
arches, and pendants disposed like lustres, that were 
tipped with points of fire. Between the coralline 
shrubs I noticed other polypi not less curious, melites, 
and irises with articulated ramifications, also some 
tufts of coral, some green, others red, like seaweed 
encrusted in their calcareous salts, that naturalists, 
after long discussion, have definitely classed in the 
vegetable kingdom. But following the remark of a 
thinking man, “ there is perhaps the real point where 
life rises obscurely from the sleep of a stone, without 
detaching itself from the rough point of departure.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


197 


At last, after walking two hours, we had attained 
a depth of about 300 yards, that is to say, the extreme 
limit on which coral begins to form. But there was 
no isolated bush, nor modest brushwood, at the bot- 
tom of lofty trees. It was an immense forest of large 
mineral vegetations, enormous petrified trees, united 
by garlands of elegant plumarias, sea-bindweed, all 
adorned with clouds and reflections. We passed 
freely under their high branches, lost in the shade of 
the waves, while at our feet, tubipores, meandrines, 
stars, fungi, and caryophyllidæ formed a carpet of 
flowers sown with dazzling gems. What an inde- 
scribable spectacle! 

Captain Nemo had stopped. I and my companions 
halted, and turning round, I saw his men were form- 
ing a semicircle round their chief. Watching atten- 
tively, I observed that four of them carried on the^r 
shoulders an object of an oblong shape. 

We occupied, in this place, the centre of a vast 
glade surrounded by the lofty foliage of the subma- 
rine forest. Our lamps threw over this place a sort of 
clear twilight that singularly elongated the shadows 
on the ground. At the end of the glade the darkness 
increased, and was only relieved by little sparks re- 
flected by the points of coral. 

Ned Land and Conseil were near me. We watched, 
and I thought I was going to witness a strange scene. 
On observing the ground, I saw that it was raised in 
certain places by slight excrescences encrusted with 
limy deposits, and disposed with a regularity that be- 
trayed the hand of man. 

In the midst of the glade, on a pedestal of rocks 
roughly piled up, stood a cross of xoral, that extended 


198 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


its long arms that one might have thought were made 
of petrified blood. 

Upon a sign from Captain Nemo, one of the men 
advanced; and at some feet from the cross, he began 
to dig a hole with a pickaxe that he took from his belt. 
I understood all ! This glade was a cemetery, this hole 
a tomb, this oblong object the body of the man who 
had died in the night ! The Captain and his men had 
come to bury their companion in this general resting- 
place, at the bottom of this inaccessible ocean! 

The grave was being dug slowly; the fish fled on 
all sides while their retreat was being thus disturbed; 
I heard the strokes of the pickaxe, which sparkled 
when it hit upon some flint lost at the bottom of the 
waters. The hole was soon large and deep enough to 
receive the body. Then the bearers approached; the 
body, enveloped in a tissue of white byssus, was low- 
ered into the damp grave. Captain Nemo, with his 
arms crossed on his breast, and all the friends of him 
who had loved them, knelt in prayer. ^ 

The grave was then filled in with the rubbish taken 
from the ground, which formed a slight mound. When 
this was done. Captain Nemo and his men rose; then* 
approaching the grave, they knelt again, and all ex- 
tended their hands in sign of a last adieu. Then the 
funeral procession returned to the Nautilus, passing 
under the arches of the forest, in the midst of thickets, 
along the coral bushes, and still on the ascent. At last 
the fires on board appeared, and their luminous track 
guided us to the Nautilus. At one o’clock we had 
returned. 

As soon as I had changed my clothes, I went up on 
to the platform, and, a prey to conflicting emotions, I 



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UNDER THE SEA 


199 


sat down near the binnacle. Captain Nemo joined me. 
I rose and said to him — 

“ So, as I said he would, this man died in the 
night?” 

‘‘ Yes, M. Aronnax.” 

‘‘And he rests now, near his companions, in the 
coral cemetery ? ” 

“ Yes, forgotten by all else, but not by us. We dug 
the grave, and the polypi undertake to seal our dead 
for eternity.” And burying h-is face quickly in his 
hands, he tried in vain to suppress a sob. Then he 
added — “Our peaceful cemetery is there, some hun- 
dred feet below the surface of the waves.” 

“ Your dead sleep quietly, at least. Captain, out of 
the reach of sharks.” 

“ Yes, sir, of sharks and men,'' gravely replied the 

Captain. 






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PART II 


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II 



CHAPTER I 


THE INDIAN OCEAN 

We now come to the second part of our journey under 
the sea. The first ended with the moving scene in the 
coral cemetery, which left such a deep impression on 
my mind. Thus, in the midst of this great sea. Captain 
Nemo's life was passing even to his grave, which he 
had prepared in one of its deepest abysses. There, 
not one of the ocean’s monsters could trouble the last 
sleep of the crew of the Nautilus, of those friends 
riveted to each other in death as in life. “ Nor any 
man either,” had added the Captain. Still the same 
fierce, implacable defiance towards human society! 

I could no longer content myself with the hypoth- 
esis which satisfied Conseil. 

That worthy fellow persisted in seeing in the com- 
mander of the Nautilus one of those unknown savants 
who return mankind contempt for indifference. For 
him, he was a misunderstood genius, who, tired of 
earth’s deceptions, had taken refuge in this inacces- 
sible medium, where he might follow his instincts 
freely. To my mind, this hypothesis explained but 
one side of Captain Nemo’s character. 

Indeed, the mystery of that last night, during which 
we had been chained in prison, the sleep, and the pre- 


204 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


caution so violently taken by the Captain of snatching 
from my eyes the glass I had raised to sweep the 
horizon, the mortal wound of the man, due to an unac- 
countable shock of the Nautilus, all put me on a new 
track. No; Captain Nemo was not satisfied with 
shunning man. His formidable apparatus not only 
suited his instinct of freedom, but, perhaps, also the 
design of some terrible retaliation. 

At this moment, nothing is clear to me ; I catch but 
a glimpse of light amidst all the darkness, and I must 
confine myself to writing as events shall dictate. 

That day, the 24th of January, 1868, at noon, the 
second officer came to take the altitude of the sun. I 
mounted the platform, lit a cigar, and watched the 
operation. It seemed to me that the man did not 
understand French; for several times I made remarks 
in a loud voice, which must have drawn from him 
some involuntary sign of attention, if he had under- 
stood them ; but he remained undisturbed and 
dumb. 

As he was taking observations with the sextant, one 
of the sailors of the Nautilus (the strong man who had 
accompanied us on our first submarine excursion to 
the Island of Crespo) came to clean the glasses of the 
lantern. I examined the fittings of the apparatus, the 
strength of which was increased a hundredfold by 
lenticular rings, placed similar to those in a lighthouse, 
and which projected their brilliance in a horizontal 
plane. The electric lamp was combined in such a way 
as to give its most powerful light. Indeed, it was pro- 
duced in vacuo, which insured both its steadiness and 
its intensity. This vacuum economised the graphite 
points between which the luminous arc was developed. 


UNDER THE SEA 


205 


— an important point of economy for Captain Nemo, 
who could not easily have replaced them ; and under 
these conditions their waste was imperceptible. When 
the Nautilus was ready to continue its submarine 
journey, I went down to the saloon. The panels were 
closed, and the course marked direct west. 

We were furrowing the waters of the Indian Ocean, 
a vast liquid plain, with a surface of 1,200,000,000 of 
acres, and whose waters are so clear and transparent, 
that any one leaning over them would turn giddy. The 
Nautilus usually floated between fifty and a hundred 
fathoms deep. We went on so for some days. To 
any one but myself, who had a great love for the sea, 
the hours would have seemed long and monotonous; 
but the daily walks on the platform, when I steeped 
myself in the reviving air of the ocean, the sight of the 
rich waters through the windows of the saloon, the 
books in the library, the compiling of my memoirs, 
took up all my time, and left me not a moment of 
ennui or weariness. 

For some days we saw a great number of aquatic 
birds, seamews or gulls. Some were cleverly killed, 
and, prepared in a certain way, made very acceptable 
water-game. Amongst large winged birds, carried a 
long distance from all lands, and resting upon the 
waves from the fatigue of their flight, I saw some 
magnificent albatrosses, uttering discordant cries like 
the braying of an ass, and birds belonging to the 
family of the longipennates. The family of the toti-* 
palmates was represented by the sea-swallows, which 
caught the fish from the surface, and by numerous 
phaetons, or lepturi ; amongst others, the phaeton with 
red lines, as large as a pigeon, whose white plumage. 


2o6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


tinted with pink, shows ofif to advantage the blackness 
of its wings. 

As to the fish, they always provoked our admiration 
when we surprised the secrets of their aquatic life 
through the open panels. I saw many kinds which I 
never before had a chance of observing. 

I shall notice chiefly ostracion's peculiar to the Red 
Sea, the Indian Ocean, and that part which washes 
the coast of tropical America. These fishes, like the 
tortoise, the armadillo, the sea-hedgeh'og^ and the Crus- 
tacea, are protected by a breastplate which is neither 
chalky nor stony, but real bone. In some it takes the 
form of a solid triangle, in others of a solid quad- 
rangle. Amongst the triangular I saw some an inch 
and a half in length, with wholesome flesh, and a deli- 
cious flavour ; they are brown at tail, and yellow 
at the fins, and I recommend their introduction into 
fresh water, to which a certain number of sea-fish 
easily accustom themselves. I would also mention 
quadrangular ostracions, having on the back four 
large tubercles ; some dotted over with white spots on 
the lower part of thie body, and which may be tamed 
like birds ; trigons provided with spikes formed by the 
lengthening of their bony shell, and which, from their 
strange gruntings, are called “ sea-pigs’" ; also drome- 
daries with large humps in the shape of a cone, whose 
flesh is very tough and leathery. 

I now borrow from the daily notes of Master Con- 
seil. Certain fish of the genus petrodon peculiar to 
those seas, with red backs and white chests, which are 
distinguished by three rows of longitudinal filaments; 
and some electrical, seven inches long, decked in the 
liveliest colours. Then, as specimens of other kinds, 


UNDER THE SEA 


207 


some ovoides, resembling an egg of a dark brown 
colour, marked with white bands, and without tails; 
diodons, real sea-porcupines, furnished with spikes, 
and capable of swelling in such a way as to look like 
cushions bristling with darts ; hippocampi, common to 
every ocean; some pegasi with lengthened snouts, 
which their pectoral fins, being much elongated and 
formed in the shape of wings, allow, if not to fly, at 
least to shoot into the air; pigeon spatulæ, with tails 
covered with many rings of shell; macrognathi with 
long jaws, an excellent fish, nine inches long, and 
bright with most agreeable colours ; pale-coloured cal- 
liomores, with rugged heads; and plenty of chæto- 
dons, with long and tubular muzzles, which kill insects 
by shooting them, as from an air-gun, with a single 
drop of water. These we may call the fly-catchers of 
the seas. 

“ In the eighty-ninth genus of fishes, classed by 
Lacépède, belonging to the second lower class of bony, 
characterised by opercules and bronchial membranes, 
I remarked the scorpæna, the head of which is fur- 
nished with spikes, and which has but one dorsal fin; 
these creatures are covered, or not, with little shells, 
according to the sub-class to which they belong. The 
second sub-class gives us specimens of didactyles four- 
teen or fifteen inches in length, with yellow rays, and 
heads of a most fantastic appearance. As to the first 
sub-class, it gives several specimens of that singular- 
looking fish appropriately called a ‘sea-frog,’ with 
large head, sometimes pierced with holes, sometimes 
swollen with protuberances, bristling with spikes, and 
covered with tubercles; it has irregular and hideous 
horns; its body and tail are covered with callosities; 


2o8 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


its sting makes a dangerous wound ; it is both repug- 
nant and horrible to look at.’’ 

From the 21st to the 23d of January the Nautilus 
went at the rate of two hundred and fifty leagues in 
twenty-four hours, being five hundred and forty miles, 
or twenty-two miles an hour. If we recognised so 
many different varieties of fish, it was because, at- 
tracted by the electric light, they tried to follow us; 
the greater part, however, were soon distanced by our 
speed, though some kept their place in the waters of 
the Nautilus for a time. The morning of the 24th, in 
12° 5' south latitude, and 94° 33' longitude, we ob- 
served Keeling Island, a madrepore formation, planted 
with magnificent cocoas, and which had been visited 
by Mr. Darwin and Captain Fitzroy. The Nautilus 
skirted the shores of this desert island for a little 
distance. Its nets brought up numerous specimens of 
polypi, and curious shells of mollusca. Some precious 
productions of the species of delphinulæ enriched the 
treasures of Captain Nemo, to which I added an 
astræa punctifera, a kind of parasite polypus often 
found fixed to a shell. Soon Keeling Island disap- 
peared from the horizon, and our course was directed 
to the north-west in the direction of the Indian 
Peninsula. 

From Keeling Island our course was slower and 
more variable, often taking us into great depths. Sev- 
eral times they made use of the inclined planes, which 
certain internal levers placed obliquely to the water- 
line. In that way we went about two miles, but with- 
out ever obtaining the greatest depths of the Indian 
Sea, which soundings of seven thousand fathoms have 
never reached. As to the temperature of the lower 


UNDER THE SEA 


209 


strata, the thermometer invariably indicated 4® above 
zero. I only observed that, in the upper regions, the 
water was always colder in the high levels than at the 
surface of the sea. 

On the 25th of January, the ocean was entirely 
deserted ; the Nautilus passed the day on the surface, 
beating the waves with its powerful screw, and making 
them rebound to a great height. Who under such 
circumstances would not have taken it for a gigantic 
cetacean ? Three parts of this day I spent on the plat- 
form. I watched the sea. Nothing on the horizon, 
till about four o’clock a steamer running west on our 
counter. Her masts were visible for an instant, but 
she could not see the Nautilus, being too low in the 
water. I fancied this steamboat belonged to the P. O. 
Company, which runs from Ceylon to Sydney, touch- 
ing at King George’s Point and Melbourne. 

At five o’clock in the evening, before that fleeting 
twilight which binds night to day in tropical zones, 
Conseil and I were astonished by a curious spectacle. 

It was a shoal of argonauts travelling along on the 
surface of the ocean. We could count several hun- 
dreds. They belonged to the tubercle kind which are 
peculiar to the Indian seas. 

These graceful molluscs moved backwards by means 
of their locomotive tube, through which they propelled 
the water already drawn in. Of their eight tentacles, 
six were elongated, and stretched out floating on the 
water, whilst the other two, rolled up flat, were spread 
to the wind like a light sail. I saw their spiral-shaped 
and fluted shells, which Cuvier justly compares to an 
elegant skiff. A boat indeed! It bears the creature 
which secretes it without its adhering to it. 


210 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


For nearly an hour the Nautilus floated in the midst 
of this shoal of molluscs. Then I know not what 
sudden fright they took. But as if at a signal every 
sail was furled, the arms folded, the body drawn in, 
the shells turned over, changing their centre of grav- 
ity, and the whole fleet disappeared under the waves 
Never did the ships of a squadron manœuvre with 
more unity. 

At that moment night fell suddenly, and the reeds, 
scarcely raised by the breeze, lay peaceably under the 
sides of the Nautilus. 

The next day, 26th of January, we cut the equator 
at the eighty-second meridian, and entered the north- 
ern hemisphere. During the day, a formidable troop 
of sharks accompanied us, terrible creatures, which 
multiply in these seas, and make them very dangerous. 
They were ‘‘ cestracio philippi ” sharks, with brown 
backs and whitish bellies, armed with eleven rows of 
teeth — eyed sharks — their throat being marked with a 
large black spot surrounded with white like an eye. 
There were also some Isabella sharks, with rounded 
snouts marked with dark spots. These powerful crea- 
tures often hurled themselves at the windows of the 
saloon with such violence as to make us feel very inse- 
cure. At such times Ned Land was no longer master 
of himself. He wanted to go to the surface and har- 
poon the monsters, particularly certain smooth-hound 
sharks, whose mouth is studded with teeth like a 
mosaic; and large tiger-sharks nearly six yards long, 
the last named of which seemed to excite him more 
particularly. But the Nautilus, accelerating her speed, 
easily left the most rapid of them behind. 

The 27th of January, at the entrance of the vast 


UNDER THE SEA 


2II 


Bay of Bengal, we met repeatedly a forbidding spec- 
tacle, dead bodies floating on the surface of the water. 
They were the dead of the Indian villages, carried by 
the Ganges to the level of the sea, and which the vul- 
tures, the only undertakers of the country, had not 
been able to devour. But the sharks did not fail to 
help them at their funereal work. 

About seven o’clock in the evening, the Nautilus, 
half immersed, was sailing in a sea of milk. At first 
sight the ocean seemed lactified. Was it the effect of 
the lunar rays? No; for the moon, scarcely two days 
old, was still lying hidden under the horizon in the 
rays of the sun. The whole sky, though lit by the 
sidereal rays, seemed black by contrast with the white- 
ness of the waters. 

Conseil could not believe his eyes, and questioned 
me as to the cause of this strange phenomenon. Hap- 
pily I was able to answer him. 

“ It is called a milk sea,” I explained, “ a large 
extent of white wavelets often to be seen on the coasts 
of Amboyna, and in these parts of the sea.” 

“ But, sir,” said Conseil, “ can you tell me what 
causes such an effect? for I suppose the water is not 
really turned into milk.” 

No, my boy; and the whiteness which surprises 
you is caused only by the presence of myriads of infu- 
soria, a sort of luminous little worm, gelatinous and 
without colour, of the thickness of a hair, and whose 
length is not more than the ^/looo of an inch. These 
insects adhere to one another sometimes for several 
leagues.” 

“ Several leagues ! ” exclaimed Conseil. 

‘‘Yes, my boy; and you need not try to compute 


212 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


the number of these infusoria. You will not be able ; 
for, if I am not mistaken, ships have floated on these 
milk seas for more than forty miles.” 

Towards midnight the sea suddenly resumed its 
usual colour ; but behind us, even to the limits of the 
horizon, the sky reflected the whitened waves, and for 
a long time seemed impregnated with the vague glim- 
merings of an aurora borealis. 


CHAPTER II 


A NOVEL PROPOSAL OF CAPTAIN NEMO’s 

On the 28th of February, when at noon the Nautilus 
came to the surface of the sea, in 9° 4' north latitude, 
there was land in sight about eight miles to westward. 
The first thing I noticed was a range of mountains 
about two thousand feet high, the shapes of which 
were most capricious. On taking the bearings, I knew 
that we were nearing the Island of Ceylon, the pearl 
which hangs from the lobe of the Indian Peninsula. 

Captain Nemo and his second appeared at this mo- 
ment. The Captain glanced at the map. Then, turn- 
ing to me, said — 

“ The Island of Ceylon, noted for its pearl-fisheries. 
Would you like to visit one of them, M. Aronnax? ” 

“ Certainly, Captain.’’ 

“ Well, the thing is easy. Though if we see the 
fisheries, we shall not see the fishermen. The annual 
exportation has not yet begun. Never mind, I will 
give orders to make for the Gulf of Manaar, where 
we shall arrive in the night.” 

The Captain said something to his second, who im- 
mediately went out. Soon the Nautilus returned to 
her native element, and the manometer showed that 
she was about thirty feet deep. 

“ Well, sir,” said Captain Nemo, you and your 


214 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


companions shall visit the Bank of Manaar, and if by 
chance some fisherman should be there, we shall see 
him at work.” 

“ Agreed, Captain ! ” 

By the by, M. Aronnax, you are not afraid of 
sharks ? ” 

“ Sharks ! ” exclaimed I. 

This question seemed a very hard one. 

‘‘Well?” continued Captain Nemo. 

“ I admit, Captain, that I am not yet very familiar 
with that kind of fish.” 

“ We are accustomed to them,” replied Captain 
Nemo, “ and in time you will be too. However, we 
shall be armed, and on the road we may be able to 
hunt some of the tribe. It is interesting. So, till 
to-morrow, sir, and early.” 

This said in a careless tone. Captain Nemo left the 
saloon. Now, if you were invited to hunt the bear in 
the mountains of Switzerland, what would you say? 
“ Very well ! to-morrow we will go and hunt the bear.” 
If you were asked to hunt the lion in the plains of 
Atlas, or the tiger in the Indian jungles, what would 
you say ? “ Ha ! ha ! it seems we are going to hunt 
the tiger or the lion ! ” But when you are invited to 
hunt the shark in its natural element, you would per- 
haps reflect before accepting the invitation. As for 
myself, I passed my hand over my forehead, on which 
stood large drops of cold perspiration. “ Let us re- 
flect,” said I, “ and take our time. Hunting otters in 
submarine forests, as we did in the Island of Crespo, 
will pass; but going up and down at the bottom of 
the sea, where one is almost certain to meet sharks, is 
quite another thing! I know well that in certain 


UNDER THE SEA 


215 


countries, particularly in the Andaman Islands, the 
negroes never hesitate to attack them with a dagger 
in one hand and a running noose in the other; but I 
also know that few who affront those creatures ever 
return alive. However, I am not a negro, and, if I 
were, I think a little hesitation in this case would not 
be ill-timed.” 

At this moment, Conseil and the Canadian entered, 
quite composed^ and even joyous. They knew not 
what awaited them. 

Faith, sir,” said Ned Land, “ your Captain Nemo 
— ^the devil take him! — ^has just made us a very pleas- 
ant offer.” 

** Ah ! ” said I, you know ? ” 

“ If agreeable to you, sir,” interrupted Conseil, ‘‘ the 
Commander of the Nautilus has invited us to visit the 
magnificent Ceylon fisheries to-morrow, in your com- 
pany ; he did it kindly, and behaved like a real gentle- 
man.” 

“ He said nothing more ? ” 

“ Nothing more, sir, except that he had already 
spoken to you of this little walk.” 

Sir,” said Conseil, '' would you give us some de- 
tails of the pearl-fishery?” 

“ As to the fishing itself,” I asked, “ or the incidents, 
which ? ” 

“ On the fishing,” replied the Canadian ; before 
entering upon the ground, it is as well to know some- 
thing about it.” 

‘‘ Very well ; sit down, my friends, and I will teach 
you.” 

Ned and Conseil seated themselves on an ottoman, 
and the first thing the Canadian asked was — > 


2I6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Sir, what is a pearl ? ” 

“ My worthy Ned,’’ I answered, “ to the poet, a 
pearl is a tear of the sea ; to the Orientals, it is a drop 
of dew solidified; to the ladies, it is a jewel of an ob- 
long shape, of a brilliancy of mother-of-pearl sub- 
stance, which they wear on their fingers, their necks, 
or their ears ; for the chemist, it is a mixture of phos- 
phate and carbonate of lime, with a little gelatine ; and 
lastly, for naturalists, it is simply a morbid secretion 
of the organ that produces the mother-of-pearl 
amongst certain bivalves.” 

“ Branch of mollusca,” said Conseil, class of 
acephali, order of testacea.” 

** Precisely so, my learned Conseil ; and, amongst 
these testacea, the earshell, the tridacnæ, the turbots — 
in a word, all those which secrete mother-of-pearl; 
that is, the blue, bluish, violet, or white substance 
which lines the interior of their shells, are capable of 
producing pearls.” 

“ Mussels, too ? ” asked the Canadian. 

“ Yes, mussels of certain waters in Scotland, Wales, 
Ireland, Saxony, Bohemia, and France.” 

“ Good ! For the future I shall pay attention,” re- 
plied the Canadian. 

But,” I continued, “ the particular mollusc which 
secretes the pearl is the pearl-oyster, the meleagrina 
margaritifera, that precious pintadine. The pearl is 
nothing but a nacreous formation, deposited in a 
globular form, either adhering to the oyster-shell, or 
buried in the folds of the creature. On the shell it 
is fast; in the flesh it is loose; but always has for a 
kernel a small hard substance, may be a barren egg, 
may be a grain of sand, around which the pearly mat- 


UNDER THE SEA 


217 


ter deposits itself year after year successively, and by 
thin concentric layers.” 

“ Are many pearls found in the oyster ? ” asked 
Conseil. 

** Yes, my boy. There are some pintadines a perfect 
casket. One oyster has been mentioned, though I 
allow myself to doubt it, as having contained no less 
than a hundred and fifty sharks.” 

“ A hundred and fifty sharks ! ” exclaimed Ned Land. 

“ Did I say sharks ? ” said I, hurriedly. “ I meant 
to say a hundred and fifty pearls. Sharks would not 
be sense.” 

“ Certainly not,” said Conseil ; ‘‘ but will you tell us 
now by what means they extract these pearls ? ” 

“ They proceed in various ways. When they ad- 
here to the shell, the fishermen often pull them off with 
pincers; but the most common way is to lay the pin- 
tadines on mats of the seaweed which covers the banks. 
Thus they die in the open air; and at the end of ten 
days they are in a forward state of decomposition. 
They are then plunged into large reservoirs of sea- 
water; then they are opened and washed. Now begins 
the double work of the sorters. First they separate 
the layers of pearl, known in commerce by the name 
of bastard whites and bastard blacks, which are 
delivered in boxes of two hundred and fifty and three 
hundred pounds each. Then they take the parenchyma 
of the oyster, boil it, and pass it through a sieve in 
order to extract the very smallest pearls.” 

** The price of these pearls v-aries according to their 
size ? ” asked Conseil. 

“ Not only according to their size,” I answered, 
“ but also according to their shape, their water (that 


2I8 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


is, their colour), and their lustre; that is, that bright 
and diapered sparkle which makes them so charming 
to the eye. The most beautiful are called virgin pearls 
or paragons. They are formed alone in the tissue of 
the mollusc, are white, often opaque, and sometimes 
have the transparency of an opal; they are generally 
round or oval. The round are made into bracelets, 
the oval into pendants; and, being more precious, 
are sold singly. Those adhering to the shell of the 
oyster are more irregular in shape, and are sold by 
weight. Lastly, in a lower order are classed those 
small pearls known under the name of seed-pearls; 
they are sold by measure, and are especially used in 
embroidery for church ornaments.'' 

‘‘ But," said Conseil, is this pearl-fishery danger- 
ous?” 

No," I answered, quickly ; “ particularly if certain 
precautions are taken." 

“ What does one risk in such a calling?” said Ned 
Land; “the swallowing of some mouthfuls of sea- 
water ? ” 

“ As you say, Ned. By the by,” said I, trying to 
take Captain Nemo's careless tone, “ are you afraid of 
sharks, brave Ned?" 

“ r ! " replied the Canadian ; “ a harpooner by pro- 
fession? It is my trade to make light of them." 

“ But,” said I, “ it is not a question of fishing for 
them with an iron swivel, hoisting them into the vessel, 
cutting off their tails with a blow of a chopper, rip- 
ping them up, and throwing their heart into the sea ! ’* 

“ Then, it is a question of—'" 

“ Precisely." 

“In the water?" 


UNDER THE SEA 


219 


“ In the water.” 

“Faith, with a good harpoon! You know, sir, 
these sharks are ill-fashioned beasts. They must turn 
on their bellies to seize you, and in that time ” 

Ned Land had a way of saying “ seize,” which made 
my blood run cold. 

“ Well, and you. Conseil, what do you think of 
sharks ? ” 

“ Me ! ” said Conseil. “ I will be frank, sir.” 

“ So much the better,” thought I. 

“ If you, sir, mean to face the sharks, I do not see 
why your faithful servant should not face them with 
you.” 


CHAPTER III 


A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS 

The next morning at four o’clock I was awakened 
by the steward, whom Captain Nemo had placed at 
my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed, and went into 
the saloon. 

Captain Nemo was awaiting me. 

“ M. Aronnax,” said he, are you ready to start? ” 

“ I am ready.” 

Then, please to follow me.” 

“And my companions. Captain?” 

“ They have been told, and are waiting.” 

“Are we not to put on our diver’s dresses?” asked I. 

“ Not yet. I have not allowed the Nautilus to come 
too near this coast, and we are some distance from the 
Manaar Bank; but the boat is ready, and will take 
us to the exact point of disembarking, which will save 
us a long way. It carries our diving apparatus, which 
we will put on when we begin our submarine journey.” 

Captain Nemo conducted me to the central stair- 
case, which led on to the platform. Ned and Conseil 
were already there, delighted at the idea of the 
“ pleasure party ” which was preparing. Five sailors 
from the Nautilus, with their oars, waited in the boat, 
which had been made fast against the side. 

The night was still dark. Layers of clouds covered 
the sky, allowing but few stars to be seen. I looked 


UNDER THE SEA 


221 


on the side where the land lay, and saw nothing but 
a dark line enclosing three parts of the horizon, from 
south-west to north-west. The Nautilus, having re- 
turned during the night up the western coast of Cey- 
lon, was now west of the bay, or rather gulf, formed 
by the mainland and the Island of Manaar. There, 
under the dark waters, stretched the pintadine bank, 
an inexhaustible field of pearls, the length of which 
is more than twenty miles. 

Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I, took our 
places in the stern of the boat. The master went to 
the tiller ; his four companions leaned on their oars, 
the painter was cast off, and we sheered off. 

The boat went towards the south; the oarsmen did 
not hurry, I noticed that their strokes, strong in the 
water, only followed each other every ten seconds, 
according to the method generally adopted in the 
navy. Whilst the craft was running by its own 
velocity, the liquid drops struck the dark depths of the 
waves crisply like spats of melted lead. A little billow, 
spreading wide, gave a slight roll to the boat, and some 
samphire reeds flapped before it. 

We were silent. What was Captain Nemo think- 
ing of? Perhaps of the land he was approaching, 
and which he found too near to him, contrary to the 
Canadian’s opinion, who thought it too far off. As to 
Conseil, he was merely there from curiosity. 

About half-past five, the first tints on the horizon 
showed the upper line of coast more distinctly. Flat 
enough in the east, it rose a little to the south. Five 
miles still lay between us, and it was indistinct owing 
to the mist on the water. At six o’clock it became 
suddenly daylight, with that rapidity peculiar to trop- 


222 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


ical regions, which know neither dawn or twilight. 
The solar rays pierced the curtain of clouds, piled up 
on the eastern horizon, and the radiant orb rose 
rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees scat- 
tered here and there. The boat neared Manaar Island, 
which was rounded to the south. Captain Nemo rose 
from his seat and watched the sea. 

At a sign from him the anchor was dropped, but the 
chain scarcely ran, for it was little more than a yard 
deep, and this spot was one of the highest points of 
the bank of pintadines. 

Here we are, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo. 
“You see that enclosed bay? Here, in a month, will 
be assembled the numerous fishing-boats of the ex- 
porters, and these are the waters their divers will ran- 
sack so boldly. Happily, this bay is well situated for 
that kind of fishing. It is sheltered from the strongest 
winds ; the sea is never very rough here, which makes 
it favourable for the diver’s work. We will now put 
on our dresses, and begin our walk.” 

I did not answer, and while watching the suspected 
waves, began with the help of the sailors to put on 
my heavy sea-dress. Captain Nemo and my com- 
panions were also dressing. None oif the Nautilus 
men were to accompany us on this new excursion. 

Soon we were enveloped to the throat in india- 
rubber clothing; the air apparatus fixed to our backs 
by braces. As to the Ruhmkorff apparatus, there was 
no necessity for it. Before putting my bead into the 
copper cap, I had asked the question of the Captain. 

“ They would be useless,” he replied. “ We are 
going to no great depth, and the solar rays will be 
enough to light our walk. Besides, it would not be 


UNDER THE SEA 


223 


prudent to carry the electric light in these waters; 
its brilliancy might attract some of the dangerous 
inhabitants of the coast most inopportunely/^ 

As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned 
to Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had 
already encased their heads in the metal cap, and they 
could neither hear nor answer. 

One last question remained to ask of Captain 
Nemo. 

“ And our arms ? asked I ; “ our guns ? ” 

“ Guns ! what for ? Do not mountaineers attack 
the bear with a dagger in their hand, and is not steel 
surer than lea-d? Here is a strong blade, put it in 
your belt, and we start.” 

I looked at my companions ; they were armed like us, 
and, more than that, Ned Land was brandishing an 
enormous harpoon, which he had placed in the boat 
before leaving the Nautilus. 

Then, following the Captain’s example, I allowed 
myself to be dressed in the heavy copper helmet, and 
our reservoirs of air were at once in activity. An 
instant after we were landed, one after the other, in 
about two yards of water upon an even sand. Captain 
Nemo made a sign with his hand, and we followed him 
by a gentle declivity till we disappeared under the 
waves. 

Over our feet, like coveys of snipe in a bog, rose 
shoals of fish, of the genus monoptera^ which have no 
other fins but their tail. I recognised the Javanese, 
a real serpent two and a half feet long, of a livid colour 
underneath, and which might easily be mistaken for 
a conger eel if it were not for the golden stripes on 
its sides. In the genus stromateus, whose bodies are 


224 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


very flat and oval, I saw some of the most brilliant 
colour-s, carrying their dorsal fin like a scythe; an 
excellent eating fish, which, dried and pickled, is 
known by the name of Karawade; then some tran- 
queba-rs, belonging to the genus apsiphoioides, whose 
body is covered with a shell cuirass of eight longitu- 
dinal plates. 

The heightening sun lit the mass of waters more and 
more. The soil changed by degrees. To the fine 
sand succeeded a perfect causeway of boulders, 
covered with a carpet of molluscs and zoophytes. 
Amongst the specimens of these branches I noticed 
some placenæ, with thin unequal shells, a kind of 
ostracion peculiar to the Red Sea and the Indian 
Ocean; some orange lucinæ with rounded shells; 
rockfish three feet and a half long, which raised 
themselves under the waves like hands ready to seize 
one. There were also some panopyres, slightly 
luminous ; and lastly, some oculines, like magnificent 
fans, forming one of the richest vegetations of these 
seas. 

In the midst of these living plants, and under the 
arbours of the hydrophytes, were layers of clumsy 
articulates, particularly some raninæ, whose carapace 
formed a slightly rounded triangle ; and some horrible 
looking parthenopes. 

At about seven o’clock we found ourselves at last 
surveying the oyster-banks, on which the pearl-oysters 
are reproduced by millions. 

Captain Nemo pointed with his hand to the enor- 
mous heap of oysters ; and I could well understand that 
this mine was inexhaustible, for Nature’s creative 
power is far beyond man’s instinct of destruction. 


UNDER THE SEA 


225 


Ned Land, faithful to his instinct, hastened to fill a 
net which he carried by his side with some of the finest 
specimens. But we could not stop. We must follow 
the Captain^ who seemed to guide himself by paths 
known only to himself. The ground was sensibly 
rising, and sometimes, on holding up my arm, it was 
above the surface of the sea. Then the level of the 
bank would sink capriciously. Often we rounded high 
rocks scarped into pyramids. In their dark tracturefs 
huge Crustacea, perched upon their high claws like 
some war-machines, watched us with fixed eyes, and 
under our feet crawled various kinds of annelides. 

At this moment there opened before us a large 
grotto, dug in a picturesque heap of rocks, and 
carpeted with all the thick warp of the submarine flora. 
At first it seemed very dark to me. The solar rays 
seemed to be extinguished by successive gradations, 
until its vague transparency became nothing more than 
drowned light. Captain Nemo entered; we followed. 
My eyes soon accustomed themselves to this relative 
state of darkness. I could distinguish the arches 
springing capriciously from natural pillars, standing 
broad upon their granite base, like the heavy columns 
of Tuscan architecture. Why had our incomprehen- 
sible guide led us to the bottom of this submarine 
crypt ? I was soon to know. After descending a 
rather sharp declivity, our feet trod the bottom of a 
kind of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped 
and with his hand indicated an object I had not yet 
perceived. It was an oyster of extraordinary dimen- 
sions, a gigantic tridacne, a goblet which could have 
contained a whole lake of holy water, a basin the 
breadth of which was more than two yards and a half, 


226 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


and consequently larger than that ornamenting the 
saloon of the Nautilus. I approached this extraor- 
dinary mollusc. It adhered by its byssus to a table 
of granite, and there, isolated, it developed itself in 
the calm waters of the grotto. I estimated the weight 
of this tridacne at 600 pounds. Such an oyster would 
contain thirty pounds of meat ; and one must have the 
stomach of a Gargantua to demolish some dozens of 
them. 

Captain Nemo was evidently acquainted with the 
existence of this bivalve, and seemed to have a par- 
ticular motive in verifying the actual state of this 
tridacne. The shells were a little open; the Captain 
came near and put his dagger between to prevent them 
from closing; then with his hand he raised the mem- 
brane with its fringed edges, which formed a cloak 
for the creature. There, between the folded plaits, 
I saw a loose pearl, whose size equalled that of a cocoa- 
nut. Its globular shape, perfect clearness, and ad- 
mirable lustre made it altogether a jewel of inestimable 
value. Carried away by my curiosity I stretched out 
my hand to seize it, weigh it, and touch it; but the 
Captain stopped me, made a sign of refusal, and 
quickly withdrew his dagger, and the two shells closed 
suddenly. I then understood Captain Nemo’s inten- 
tion. In leaving this pearl hidden in the mantle of 
the tridacne, he was allowing it to grow slowly. Each 
year the secretions of the mollusc would add new 
concentric circles. I estimated its value at i5oo,oav 
at least. 

After ten minutes Captain Nemo stopped suddenly, 
I thought he had halted previously to returning. No; 
by a gesture he bade us crouch beside him in 4 deep 


UNDER THE SEA 


227 


fracture of the rock, his hand pointed to one part of 
the liquid mass, which I watched attentively. 

About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and 
sank to the ground. The disquieting idea of sharks 
shot through my mind, but I was mistaken ; and once 
again it was not a monster of the ocean that we had 
anything to do with. 

It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a 
poor devil who, I suppose, had come to glean before 
the harvest. I could see the bottom of his canoe 
anchored some feet above his head. He dived and 
went up successively. A stone held between his feet, 
cut in the shape of a sugar loaf, whilst a rope fastened 
him to his boat, helped him to descend more rapidly. 
This was all his apparatus. Reaching the bottom 
about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled 
his bag with oysters picked up at random. Then he 
went up, emptied it, pulled up his stone, and began the 
operation once more, which lasted thirty seconds. 

The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock 
hid us from sight. And how should this poor Indian 
ever dream that men, beings like himself, should be 
there under the water watching his movements, and 
losing no detail of the fishing? Several times he went 
up in this way, and dived again. He did not carry 
away more than ten at each plunge, for he was obliged 
to pull them from the bank to which they adhered 
by means of their strong byssus. And how many of 
those oysters for which he risked his life had no pearl 
in them ! I watched him closely, his manœuvres were 
regular ; and, for the space of half an hour, no danger 
appeared to threaten him. 

I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


:228 


of this interesting fishing, when suddenly, as the 
Indian was on the ground, I saw him make a gesture 
of terror, rise, and make a spring to return to the 
surface of the sea. 

I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow ap- 
peared just above the unfortunate diver. It was a 
shark of enormous size advancing diagonally, his eyes 
on fire, and his jaws open. I was mute with horror, 
and unable to move. 

The voracious creature shot towards the Indian, 
who threw himself on one side in order to avoid the 
shark’s fins ; but not its tail, for it struck his chest, 
and stretched him on the ground. 

This scene lasted but a few seconds: the shark 
returned, and, turning on his back, prepared himself 
for cutting the Indian in two, when I saw Captain 
Nemo rise suddenly, and then, dagger in hand, walk 
straight to the monster, ready to fight face to face 
with him. The very moment the shark was going to 
snap the unhappy fisherman in two, he perceived his 
new adversary, and turning over, made straight 
towards him. 

I can still see Captain Nemo’s position. Holding 
himself well together, he waited for the shark with 
admirable coolness, and when it rushed at him, threw 
himself on one side with wonderful quickness, avoid- 
ing the shock, and burying his dagger deep into its 
side. But it was not all over. A terrible combat 
ensued. 

The shark had seemed to roar, if I might say so. 
The blood rushed in torrents from its wound. The 
sea was dyed red, and through the opaque liquid I 
could distinguish nothing more. Nothing more until 


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UNDER THE SEA 


229 


the moment when, like lightning, I saw the undaunted 
Captain hanging on to one of the creature’s fins, 
struggling, as it were, hand to hand with the monster, 
and dealing successive blows at his enemy, yet still 
unable to give a decisive one. 

The shark’s struggles agitated the water with such 
fury that the rocking threatened to upset me. 

I wanted to go to the Captain’s assistance, but, 
nailed to the spot with horror, I could not stir. 

I saw the haggard eye; I saw the different phases 
of the fight. The Captain fell to the earth, upset by 
the enormous mass which leant upon him. The 
shark’s jaws opened wide, like a pair of factory shears, 
and it would have been all over with the Captain ; but, 
quick as thought, harpoon in hand, Ned Land rushed 
towards the shark and struck it with its sharp 
point. 

The waves were impregnated with a mass of blood. 
They rocked under the shark’s movements, which beat 
them with indescribable fury. Ned Land had not 
missed his aim. It was the monster’s death-rattle. 
Struck to the heart, it struggled in dreadful convul- 
sions, the shock of which overthrew Conseil. 

But Ned Land had disentangled the Captain, who, 
getting up without any wound, went straight to the 
Indian, quickly cut the cord which held him to his 
stone, took him in his arms, and, with a sharp blow 
of his heel, mounted to the surface. 

We all three followed in a few seconds, saved by 
a miracle, and reached the fisherman’s boat. 

Captain Nemo’s first care was to recall the unfor- 
tunate man to life again. I did not think he could 
succeed. I hoped so, for the poor creature’s im- 


^230 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 

mersion was not long; but the blow from the shark’s 
tail might have been his death-blow. 

Happily, with the Captain’s and Conseil’s sharp 
friction, I saw consciousness return by degrees. He 
opened his eyes. What was his surprise, his terror 
even, at seeing four great copper heads leaning over 
him ! And, above all, what must he have thought 
when Captain Nemo, drawing from the pocket of his 
dress a bag of pearls, placed it in his hand! This 
munificent charity from the man of the waters to the 
poor Cingalese was accepted with a trembling hand. 
His wondering eyes showed that he knew not to what 
superhuman beings he owed both fortune and life. 

At a sign from the Captain we regained the bank, 
and following the road already traversed, came in 
about half an hour to the anchor which held the canoe 
of the Nautilus to the earth. 

Once on board, we each, with the help of the sailors, 
got rid of the heavy copper helmet. 

Captain Nemo’s first word was to the Canadian. 

** Thank you. Master Land,” said he. 

“It was in revenge. Captain,” replied Ned Land. 
“ I owed you that.” 

A ghastly smile passed across the Captain’s lips, and 
that was all. 

“ To the Nautilus'* said he. 

The boat flew over the waves. Some minutes after, 
we met the shark’s dead body floating. By the black 
marking of the extremity of its fins, I recognised the 
terrible melanopteron of the Indian Seas of the species 
of shark properly so called. It was more than twenty- 
five feet long; its enormous mouth occupied one-third 
of its body. It was an adult, as was known by its six 


UNDER THE SEA 


231 


rows of teeth placed in an isosceles triangle in the 
upper jaw. 

Conseil looked at it with scientific interest, and I am 
sure that he placed it, and not without reason, in the 
cartilaginous class, of the chondropterygian order, 
with fixed gills, of the selacian family, in the genus of 
the sharks. 

Whilst I was contemplating this inert mass, a dozen 
of these voracious beasts appeared round the boat; 
and, without noticing us, threw themselves upon the 
dead body and fought with one another for the pieces. 

At half-past eight we were again on board the 
Nautilus. There I reflected on the incidents which 
had taken place in our excursion to the Manaar Bank. 

Two conclusions I must inevitably draw from it — 
one bearing upon the unparalleled courage of Captain 
Nemo, the other upon his devotion to a human being, 
a representative of that race from which he fled be- 
neath the sea. Whatever he might say, this strange 
man had not yet succeeded in entirely crushing his 
heart 

When I made this observation to him, he answered 
in a slightly moved tone — 

“ That Indian, sir, is an inhabitant of an oppressed 
country ; and I am still, and shall be, to my last breath, 
one of them I ” 


CHAPTER IV 


THE RED SEA 

In the course of the day of the 29th of January, the 
Island of Ceylon disappeared under the horizon, and 
the Nautilus, at a speed of twenty miles an hour, slid 
into the labyrinth of canals which separate the Mal- 
dives from the Laccadives. It coasted even the 
Island of Kiltan, a land originally madreporic, dis- 
covered by Vasco da Gama in 1499, and one of the 
nineteen principal islands of the Laccadive Archipel- 
ago, situated between 10° and 14° 30' north latitude, 
and 69® 50' 12" east longitude. 

We had made 16,220 miles, or 7500 (French) 
leagues from our starting-point in the Japanese Seas. 

The next day (30th January), when the Nautilus 
went to the surface of the ocean, there was no land 
in sight. Its course was N.N.E., in the direction of 
the Sea of Oman, between Arabia and the Indian 
Peninsula, which serves as an outlet to the Persian 
Gulf. It was evidently a block without any possible 
egress. Where was Captain Nemo taking us to? 
I could not say. This, however, did not satisfy the 
Canadian, who that day came to me asking where we 
were going. ; 

‘‘We are going where our Captain’s fancy takes 
us. Master Ned.” 

“ His fancy cannot take us far, then,” said the 
Canadian. “ The Persian Gulf has no outlet : and 


UNDER THE SEA 


233 


if we do go in, it will not be long before we are out 
again.” 

“ Very well, then, we will come out again, Master 
Land; and if, after the Persian Gulf, the Nautilus 
would like to visit the Red Sea, the Straits of Bab- 
el-mandeb are there to give us entrance.” 

“ I need not tell you, sir,” said Ned Land, “ that the 
Red Sea is as much closed as the Gulf, as the Isthmus 
of Suez is not yet cut ; and if it was, a boat as myster- 
ious as ours would not risk itself in a canal cut with 
sluices. And again, the Red Sea is not the road to 
take us back to Europe.” 

But I never said we were going back to Europe.” 

“ What do you suppose, then ? ” 

I suppose that, after visiting the curious coasts 
of Arabia and Egypt, the Nautilus will go down the 
Indian Ocean again, perhaps cross the Channel of 
Mozambique, perhaps off the Mascarenhas, so as to 
gain the Cape of Good Hope.” 

“ And once at the Cape of Good Hope ? ” asked the 
Canadian, with peculiar emphasis. 

“ Well, we shall penetrate into that Atlantic which 
we do not yet know. Ah! friend Ned, you are get- 
ting tired of this journey under the sea; you are 
surfeited with the incessantly varying spectacle of 
submarine wonders. For my part, I shall be sorry to, 
see the end of a voyage which it is given to so few 
men to make.” 

For four days, till the 3d of February, the Nautilus^ 
scoured the Sea of Oman, at various speeds and at 
various depths. It seemed to go at random, as if 
hesitating as to which road it should follow, but we 
never passed the tropic of Cancer. 


'•*V 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


234 ! 


In quitting this sea we sighted Muscat for an instant, 
one of the most important towns of the country of 
Oman. I admired its strange aspect, surrounded 
by black rocks upon which its white houses and forts 
stood in relief. I saw the rounded domes of its 
mosques, the elegant points of its minarets, its fresh 
and verdant terraces. But it was only a vision! the 
Nautilus soon sank under the waves of that part of 
the sea. 

We passed along the Arabian coast of Mahrah 
and Hadramaut, for a distance of six miles, its 
undulating line of mountains being occasionally 
relieved by some ancient ruin. The 5th of February 
we at last entered the Gulf of Aden, a perfect funnel 
introduced into the neck of Bab-el-mandeb, through 
which the Indian waters entered the Red Sea. 

The 6th of February, the Nautilus floated in sight 
of Aden, perched upon a promontory which a narrow 
isthmus joins to the mainland, a kind of inaccessible 
Gibraltar, the fortifications of which were rebuilt by 
the English after taking possession in 1839. I caught 
a glimpse of the octagon minarets of this town, which 
was at one time, according to the historian Edrisi, 
the richest commercial magazine on the coast. 

I certainly thought that Captain Nemo, arrived at 
this point, would back out again ; but I was mistaken, 
for he did no such thing, much to my surprise. 

The next day, the 7th of February, we entered the 
Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, the name of which, in the 
Arab tongue, means ‘‘ The gate of tears.’’ 

To twenty miles in breadth, it is only thirty-two 
in length. And for the Nautilus, starting at full speed, 
the crossing was scarcely the work of an hour. But 


UNDER THE SEA 


235 


I saw nothing, not even the Island of Perim, with 
which the British Government has fortified the position 
of Aden. There were too many English or French 
steamers of the line of Suez to Bombay, Calcutta to 
Melbourne, and from Bourbon to the Mauritius, fur- 
rowing this narrow passage, for the Nautilus to ven- 
ture to show itself. So it remained prudently below. 
At last, about noon, we were in the waters of the Red 
Sea. 

I would not even seek to understand the caprice 
which had decided Captain Nemo upon entering the 
gulf. But I quite approved of the Nautilus entering 
it. Its speed was lessened ; sometimes it kept on the 
surface, sometimes it dived to avoid a vessel, and thus 
I was able to observe the upper and lower parts of this 
curious sea. 

The 8th of February, from the first dawn of day, 
Mocha came in sight, now a ruined town, whose walls 
would fall at a gun-shot, yet which shelters here and 
there some verdant date-trees ; once an important 
city, containing six public markets, and twenty-six 
mosques, and whose walls, defended by fourteen forts, 
formed a girdle of two miles in circumference. 

The Nautilus then approached the African shore, 
where the depth of the sea was greater. There, be- 
tween two waters clear as crystal, through the open 
panels we were allowed to contemplate the beautiful 
bushes of brilliant coral, and large blocks of rocks 
clothed with a splendid fur of green* algæ and fuci. 
What an indescribable spectacle, and what variety of 
sites and landscapes along these sandbanks and vol- 
canic islands which bound the Libyan coast? But 
where these shrubs appeared in all their beauty was 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


236 


on the eastern coast, which the Nautilus soon gained. 
It was on the coast of Tehama, for there not only did 
this display of zoophytes flourish beneath the level of 
the sea, but they also formed picturesque interlacings 
which unfolded themselves about sixty feet above the 
surface, more capricious but less highly coloured than 
those whose freshness was kept up by the vital power 
of the waters. 

What charming hours I passed thus at the window 
of the saloon! What new specimens of submarine 
flora and fauna did I admire under the brightness of 
our electric lantern! 

There grew sponges of all shapes, pediculated, 
foliated, globular, and digital. They certainly justi- 
fied the names of baskets, cups, distaffs, elks’-horns, 
lions'-feet, peacocks’-tails, and Neptunes’-gloves, 
which have been given to them by the fishermen, 
greater poets than the savants. 

Other zoophytes which multiply near the sponges 
consist principally of medusæ of a most elegant kind. 
The molluscs were represented by varieties of the 
calmar (which, according to Orbigny, are peculiar to 
the Red Sea) ; and reptiles by the virgata turtle, of 
the genus of cheloniæ, which furnished a wholesome 
and delicate food for our table. 

As to the fish, they were abundant, and often re- 
markable. The following are those which the nets of 
the Nautilus brought more frequently on board : — 

Rays of a red-brick colour, with bodies marked with 
blue spots, and easily recognisable by their double 
spikes ; some superb caranxes, marked with seven 
transverse bands of jet-black, blue and yellow fins, 
and gold and silver scales ; mullets with yellow heads ; 


UNDER THE SEA 


237 


gobies, and a thousand other species, common to the 
ocean which we had just traversed. 

The 9th of February, the Nautilus floated in the 
broadest part of the Red Sea, which is comprised be- 
tween Souakin, on the west coast, and Koomfidah, on 
the east coast, with a diameter of ninety miles. 

That day at noon, after the bearings were taken. 
Captain Nemo mounted the platform, where I hap- 
pened to be, and I was determined not to let him go 
down again without at least pressing him regarding 
his ulterior projects. As soon as he saw me he ap- 
proached, and graciously offered me a cigar. 

Well, sir, does this Red Sea please you ? Have 
you sufficiently observed the wonders it covers, its 
fishes, its zoophytes, its parterres of sponges, and its 
forests of coral? Did you catch a glimpse of the 
towns on its borders ? 

‘‘ Yes, Captain Nemo,” I replied; and the Nautilus 
is wonderfully fitted for such a study. Ah! it is an 
intelligent boat ! ” 

“ Yes, sir, intelligent and invulnerable. It fears 
neither the terrible tempests of the Red Sea, nor its 
currents, nor its sandbanks.” 

Certainly,” said I, “ this sea is quoted as one of 
the worst, and in the time of the ancients, if I am 
not mistaken, its reputation was detestable.” 

Detestable, M. Aronnax. The Greek and Latin 
historians do not speak favourably of it, and Strabo 
says it is very dangerous during the Etesian winds, 
and in the rainy season. The Arabian Edrisi por- 
trays it under the name of the Gulf of Colzoum, and 
relates that vessels perished there in great numbers 
on the sandbanks, and that no one would risk sailing 


238 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


in the night. It is, he pretends, a sea subject to fear- 
ful hurricanes, strewn with inhospitable islands, and 
‘which offers nothing good either on its surface or 
in its depths.’ Such, too, is the opinion of Arrian, 
Agatharcides, and Artemidorus.” 

“ One may see,” I replied, “ that these historians 
never sailed on board the Nautilus” 

“ Just so,” replied the Captain, smiling ; “ and in 
that respect moderns are not more advanced than the 
ancients. It required many ages to find out the 
mechanical power of steam. Who knows if, in 
another hundred years, we may not see a second 
Nautilus? Progress is slow, M. Aronnax.” 

“ It is true,” I answered ; “ your boat is at least 
a century before its time, perhaps an era. What a 
misfortune that the secret of such an invention should 
die with its inventor ! ” 

Captain Nemo did not reply. After some minutes’ 
silence he continued — 

“You were speaking of the opinions of ancient 
historians upon the dangerous navigation of the Red 
Sea.” 

“ It is true,” said I ; “ but were not their fears 
exaggerated ? ” 

“ Yes and no, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, 
who seemed to know the Red Sea by heart. “ That 
which is no longer dangerous for a modern vessel, 
well rigged, strongly built, and master of its own 
course, thanks to obedient steam, offered all sorts of 
perils to the ships of the ancients. Picture to yourself 
those first navigators venturing in ships made of 
planks sewn with the cords of the palm-tree, saturated 
with the grease of the sea-dog, and covered with 


UNDER THE SEA 


2J9 


powdered resin ! They had not even instruments 
wherewith to take their bearings, and they went by 
guess amongst currents of which they scarcely knew 
anything. Under such conditions shipwrecks were, 
and must have been, numerous. But in our time, 
steamers running between Suez and the South Seas 
have nothing more to fear from the fury of this gulf, 
in spite of contrary trade-winds. The captain and 
passengers do not prepare for their departure by offer- 
ing propitiatory sacrifices : and, on their return, 
they no longer go ornamented with wreaths and 
gilt fillets to thank the gods in the neighbouring 
temple.” 

“ I agree with you,” said I ; “ and steam seems to 
have killed all gratitude in the hearts of sailors. But, 
Captain, since you seem to have especially studied this 
sea, can you tell me the origin of its name ? ” 

“ There exist several explanations on the subject, 
M. Aronnax. Would you like to know the opinion 
of a chronicler of the fourteenth century?” 

Willingly.” 

“ This fanciful writer pretends that its name was 
given to it after the passage of the Israelites, when 
Pharaoh perished in the waves which closed at the 
voice of Moses.” 

“A poet’s explanation. Captain Nemo,” I replied; 
“but I cannot content myself with that. I ask you 
for your personal opinion.” 

“ Here it is, M. Aronnax. According to my idea, 
we must see in this appellation of the Red Sea a trans- 
lation of the Hebrew word ‘ Edom ’ ; and if the 
ancients gave it that name, it was on account of the 
particular colour of its waters.” 


240 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


But up to this time I have seen nothing but 
transparent waves and without any particular colour.” 

“ Very likely ! but as we advance to the bottom of 
the gulf, you will see this singular appearance. I 
remember seeing the Bay of Tor entirely red, like a 
sea of blood.” 

“And you attribute this colour to the presence of 
a microscopic seaweed ? ” 

“ Yes ; it is a mucilaginous purple matter, produced 
by the restless little plants known by the name of 
trichodesmia, and of which it requires 40,000 to occupy 
the space of a square .04 of an inch. Perhaps we shall 
meet some when we get to Tor.” 

“ So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you 
have overrun the Red Sea on board the Nautilus ? ” 

“ No, sir.” 

“As you spoke a while ago of the passage of the 
Israelites, and of the catastrophe to the Egyptians, I 
will ask whether you have met with traces under the 
water of this great historical fact?” 

“ No sir ; and for a very good reason.” 

“What is it?” 

“ It is, that the spot where Moses and his people 
passed is now so blocked up with sand, that the camels 
can barely bathe their legs there. You can well 
understand that there would not be water enough for 
my Nautilus.’* 

“And the spot?” I asked. 

“ The spot is situated a little above the Isthmus of 
Suez, in the arm which formerly made a deep estuary, 
when the Red Sea extended to the Salt Lakes. Now, 
whether this passage were miraculous or not, the 
Israelites, nevertheless, crossed there to reach the 


UNDER THE SEA 


241 


Promised Land, and Pharaoh’s army perished pre- 
cisely on that spot ; and I think that excavations made 
in the middle of the sand would bring to light a large 
number of arms and instruments of Egyptian origin.” 

“ That is evident,” I replied ; “ and for the sake of 
archæologists let us hope that these excavations will 
be made sooner or later, when new towns are estab- 
lished on the isthmus, after the construction of the 
Suez Canal ; a canal, however, very useless to a vessel 
like the Nautilus/’ 

“ Very likely ; but useful to the whole world,” said 
Captain Nemo. “ The ancients well understood the 
utility of a communication between the Red Sea and 
the Mediterranean for their commercial affairs: but 
they did not think of digging a canal direct, and took 
the Nile as an intermediate. Very probably the canal 
which united the Nile to the Red Sea was begun by 
Sesostris, if we may believe tradition. One thing is 
certain, that in the year 615 before Jesus Christ, Necos 
undertook the works of an alimentary canal to the 
waters of the Nile, across the plain of Egypt, looking 
towards Arabia. It took four days to go up this canal, 
and it was so wide that two triremes could go abreast. 
It was carried on by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, 
and probably finished by Ptolemy II. Strabo saw it 
navigated ; but its decline from the point of departure, 
near Bubastes, to the Red Sea was so slight, that it 
was only navigable for a few months in the year. 
This canal answered all commercial purposes to the 
age of Antoninus, when it was abandoned and blocked 
up with sand. Restored by order of the Caliph Omar, 
it was definitively destroyed in 761 or 762 by Caliph 
Al-Mansor, who wished to prevent the arrival of pro- 


242 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


visions to Mohammed-ben-Abdallah, who had revolted 
against him. During the expedition into Egypt, your 
General Bonaparte discovered traces of the works in 
the Desert of Suez ; and surprised by the tide, he nearly 
perished before regaining Hadjaroth, at the very place 
where Moses had encamped three thousand years be- 
fore him.’' 

Well, Captain, what the ancients dared not under- 
take, this junction between the two seas, which will 
shorten the road from Cadiz to India, M. Lesseps has 
succeeded in doing; and before long he will have 
changed Africa into an immense island.” 

“ Yes, M. Aronnax; you have the right to be proud 
of your countryman. Such a man brings more honour 
to a nation than great captains. He began, like so 
many others, with disgust and rebuffs ; but he has 
triumphed, for he has the genius of will. And it is 
sad to think that a work like that, which ought to have 
been an international work, and which would have 
sufficed to make a reign illustrious, should have suc- 
ceeded by the energy of one man. All honour to M. 
Lesseps ! ” 

“ Yes, honour to the great citizen ! ” I replied, sur- 
prised by the manner in which Captain Nemo had just 
spoken. 

“ Unfortunately,” he continued, ‘‘ I cannot take you 
through the Suez Canal ; but you will be able to see the 
long jetty of Port Said after to-morrow, when we 
shall be in the Mediterranean.” 

“ The Mediterranean ! ” I exclaimed. 

Yes, sir; does that astonish you? ” 

“ What astonishes me is to think that we shall be 
there the day after to-morrow.” 


UNDER THE SEA 


243 


“ Indeed?’^ 

“Yes, Captain, although by this time I ought to 
have accustomed myself to be surprised at nothing 
since I have been on board your boat/^ 

“ But the cause of this surprise ? ’’ 

“ Well ! it is the fearful speed you will have to put 
on the Nautilus, if the day after to-morrow she is to 
be in the Mediterranean, having made the round of 
Africa, and doubled the Cape of Good Hope ! ” 

“ Who told you that she would make the round of 
Africa, and double the Cape of Good Hope, sir?” 

“ Well, unless the Nautilus sails on dry land, and 

passes above the isthmus ” 

“ Or beneath it, M. Aronnax.” 

“ Beneath it ? ” 

“ Certainly,” replied Captain Nemo, quietly. “ A 
long time ago Nature made under this tongue of land 
what man has this day made on its surface.” 

“ What ! such a passage exists ? ” 

“ Yes ; a subterranean passage, which I have named 
the Arabian tunnel. It takes us beneath Suez, and 
opens into the Gulf of Pelusium.” 

“ But this isthmus is composed of nothing but 
quicksands ? ” 

“ To a certain depth. But at fifty-five yards only, 
there is a solid layer of rock.” 

“ Did you discover this passage by chance ?” I 
asked, more and more surprised. 

“ Chance and reasoning, sir ; and by reasoning even 
more than by chance. Not only does this passage 
exist, but I have profited by it several times. With- 
out that I should not have ventured this day into the 
impassable Red Sea. I noticed that in the Red Sea 




244 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


and in the Mediterranean there existed a certain 
number of fishes of a kind perfectly identical — ophidia, 
fiatoles, girelles, and exocœti. Certain of that fact, 
I asked myself was it possible that there was no com- 
munication between the two seas? If there was, the 
subterranean current must necessarily run from the 
Red Sea to the Mediterranean, from the sole cause of 
difference of level. I caught a large number of fishes 
in the neighbourhood of Suez. I passed a copper ring 
through their tails, and threw them back into the sea. 
Some months later, on the coast of Syria, I caught 
some of my fish ornamented with the ring. Thus 
the communication between the two was proved. I 
then sought for it with my Nautilus; I discovered it, 
ventured into it, and before long, sir, you too will 
have passed through my Arabian tunnel ! ” 


CHAPTER V 


THE ARABIAN TUNNEL 

That same evening, in 20° 30' north latitude, the 
Nautilus floated on the surface of the sea, approach- 
ing the Arabian coast. I saw Djeddah, the most im- 
portant counting-house of Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and 
India. I distinguished clearly enough its buildings, 
the vessels anchored at the quays, and those whose 
draught of water obliged them to anchor in the roads. 
The sun, rather low on the horizon, struck full on the 
houses of the town, bringing out their whiteness. 
Outside, some wooden cabins, and some made of reeds, 
showed the quarter inhabited by the Bedouins. Soon 
Djeddah was shut out from view by the shadows of 
night, and the Nautilus found herself under water 
slightly phosphorescent. 

The next day, the loth of February, we sighted 
several ships running to windward. The Nautilus 
returned to its submarine navigation; but at noon, 
when her bearings were taken, the sea being deserted, 
she rose again to her waterline. 

Accompanied by Ned and Conseil, I seated myself 
on the platform. The coast on the eastern side looked 
like a mass faintly printed upon a damp fog. 

We were leaning on the sides of the pinnace, talk- 
ing of one thing and another, when Ned Land, stretch- 
ing out his hand towards a spot on the sea, said — 

" Do you see anything there, sir ? 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


24c 


“No, Ned,” I replied; “but I have not your èyes, 
you know.” 

“Look well,” said Ned, “there, on the starboard 
beam, about the height of the lantern! Do you not 
see a mass which seems to move ? ” 

“ Certainly,” said I, after close attention ; “ I see 
something like a long black body on the top of the 
water.” 

And certainly before long the black object was not 
more than a mile from us. It looked like a great 
sandbank deposited in the open sea. It was a gigantic 
dugong ! 

Ned Land looked eagerly. His eyes shone with 
covetousness at the sight of the animal. His hand 
seemed ready to harpoon it. One would have thought 
he was awaiting the moment to throw himself into the 
sea, and attack it in its element. 

At this instant Captain Nemo appeared on the plat- 
form. He saw the dugong, understood the Canadian’s 
attitude, and addressing him, -said — 

“ If you held a harpoon just now. Master Land, 
would it not burn your hand ? ” 

“Just so, sir.” 

“ And you would not be sorry to go back, for one 
day, to your trade of a fisherman, and to add this 
cetacean to the list of those you have already killed ? ” 

“ I should not, sir.” 

“ Well, you can try.” 

“ Thank you, sir,” said Ned Land, his eyes flaming. 

“ Only,” continued the Captain, “ I advise you for 
your own sake not to miss the creature.” 

“Is the dugong dangerous to attack?” I asked, in 
spite of the Canadian’s shrug of the shoulders. 


UNDER THE SEA 


247 


“ Yes/' replied the Captain ; “ sometimes the animal 
turns upon its assailants and overturns their boat. 
But for Master Land, this danger is not to be feared. 
His eye is prompt, his arm sure." 

At this moment seven men of the crew, mute and 
immovable as ever, mounted the platform. One car- 
ried a harpoon and a line similar to those employed in 
catching whales. The pinnace was lifted from the 
bridge, pulled from its socket, and let down into the 
sea. Six oarsmen took their seats, and the coxswain 
went to the tiller. Ned, Conseil, and I went to the 
back of the boat. 

“You are not coming, Captain?" I asked. 

“ No, sir ; but I wish you good sport." 

The boat put off, and lifted by the six rowers, drew 
rapidly towards the dugong, which floated about two 
miles from the Nautilus, 

Arrived some cables’ length from the cetacean, the 
speed slackened, and the oars dipped noiselessly into 
the quiet waters. Ned Land, harpoon in hand, stood 
in the forepart of the boat. The harpoon used for 
striking the whale is generally attached to a very long 
cord, which runs out rapidly as the wounded creature 
draws it after him. But here the cord was not more 
than ten fathoms long, and the extremity was attached 
to a small barrel, which, by floating, was to show the 
course the dugong took under the water. 

I stood, and carefully watched the Canadian’s adver- 
sary. This dugong, which also bears the name of the 
halicore, closely resembles the manatee; its oblong 
body terminated in a lengthened tail, and its lateral fins 
in perfect fingers. Its difference from the manatee 
consisted in its upper jaw, which was armed with two 


24^ 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


long and pointed teeth, which formed on each side 
diverging tusks. 

This dugong, which Ned Land was preparing to 
attack, was of colossal dimensions; it was more than 
seven yards long. It did not move, and seemed to 
be sleeping on the waves, which circumstance made it 
easier to capture. 

The boat approached within six yards of the animal. 
The oars rested on the rowlocks. I half rose. Ned 
Land, his body thrown a little back, brandished the 
harpoon in his experienced hand. 

Suddenly a hissing noise was heard, and the dugong 
disappeared. The harpoon, although thrown with 
great force, had apparently only struck the water. 

“ Curse it ! ” exclaimed the Canadian, furiously ; “ I 
have missed it ! ” 

No,” said I ; ‘‘ the creature is wounded — look at 
the blood; but your weapon has not stuck in his 
body.” 

“ My harpoon! my harpoon! ” cried Ned Land. 

The sailors rowed on, and the coxswain made for 
the floating barrel. The harpoon regained, we fol- 
lowed in pursuit of the animal. 

The latter came now and then to the surface to 
breathe. Its wound had not weakened it, for it shot 
onwards with great rapidity. 

The boat, rowed by strong arms, flew on its track. 
Several times it approached within some few yards, 
and the Canadian was ready to strike, but the dugong 
made off with a sudden plunge, and it was impossible 
to reach it. 

Imagine the passion which excited impatient Ned 
Land ! He hurled at the unfortunate creature the 


UNDER THE SEA 


249 


most energetic expletives in the English tongue. For 
my part, I was only vexed to see the dugong escape 
all our attacks. 

We pursued it without relaxation for an hour, and 
I began to think it would prove difficult to capture, 
when the animal, possessed with the perverse idea of 
vengeance, of which he had cause to repent, turned 
upon the pinnace and assailed us in its turn. 

This manoeuvre did not escape the Canadian. 

“ Look out ! ’’ he cried. 

The coxswain said some words in his outlandish 
tongue, doubtless warning the men to keep on their 
guard. 

The dugong came within twenty feet of the boat, 
stopped, sniffed the air briskly with its large nostrils 
(not pierced at the extremity, but in the upper part of 
its muzzle). Then taking a spring he threw him- 
self upon us. 

The pinnace could not avoid the shock, and half 
upset, shipped at least two tons of water, which had 
to be emptied ; but thanks to the coxswain, we caught 
it sideways, not full front, so we were not quite over- 
turned. While Ned Land, clinging to the bows, bela- 
boured the gigantic animal with blows from his har- 
poon, the creature’s teeth were buried in the gunwale, 
and it lifted the whole thing out of the water, as a 
lion does a roebuck. We were upset over one another, 
and I know not how the adventure would have ended 
if the Canadian, still enraged with the beast, had not 
struck it to the heart. 

I heard its teeth grind on the iron plate, and the 
diïgong disappeared, carrying the harpoon with him. 
But the barrel soon returned to the surface, and shortly 


250 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


after the body of the animal, turned on its back. The 
boat came up with it, took it in tow, and made straight 
for the Nmtilus. 

It required tackle of enormous strength to hoist 
the dugong on to the platform. It weighed io,oor^ 
pounds. 

The next day, February nth, the larder of the 
Nautilus was enriched by some more delicate game. 
A flight of sea-swallows rested on the Nautilus, It 
was a species of the Sterna nilotica, peculiar to Egypt ; 
its beak is black, head grey and pointed, the eye sur- 
rounded by white spots, the back, wings, and tail of a 
greyish colour, the belly and throat white, and claws 
red. They also took some dozen of Nile ducks, a 
wild bird of high flavour, its throat and upper part 
of the head white with black spots. 

About five o’clock in the evening we sighted to the 
north the Cape of Ras-Mohammed. This cape forms 
the extremity of Arabia Petræa, comprised between 
the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Acabah. 

The Nautilus penetrated into the Straits of Jubal, 
which leads to the Gulf of Suez. I distinctly saw a 
high mountain, towering between the two gulfs of 
Ras-Mohammed. It was Mount Horeb, that Sinai 
at the top of which Moses saw God face to face. 

At six o’clock the Ncmtilus, sometimes floating, 
sometimes immersed, passed some distance from Tor, 
situated at the end of the bay, the waters of which 
seemed tinted with red, an- observation already made 
by Captain Nemo. Then night fell in the midst of a 
heavy silence, sometimes broken by the cries of the 
pelican and other night-birds, and the noise of the 
waves breaking upon the shore, chafing against the 


UNDER THE SEA 


2251 


rocks, or the panting of some far-off steamer beating 
the waters of the gulf with its noisy paddles. 

From eight to nine o'clock the Nautilus remained 
some fathoms under the water. According to my cal- 
culation we must have been very near Suez. Through 
the panel of the saloon I saw the bottom of the rocks 
brilliantly lit up by our electric lamp. We seemed 
to be leaving the straits behind us more and more. 

At a quarter-past nine, the vessel having returned 
to the surface, I mounted the platform. Most impa- 
tient to pass through Captain Nemo's tunnel, I could 
not stay in one place, so came to breathe the fresh 
night-air. 

Soon in the shadow I saw a pale light, half dis- 
coloured by the fog, shining about a mile from us. 

“ A floating lighthouse ! " said some one near me. 

I turned, and saw the Captain. 

“ It is the floating light of Suez," he continued. “ It 
will not be long before we gain the entrance of the 
tunnel." 

“ The entrance cannot be easy ? " 

No, sir; and for that reason I am accustomed to 
go into the steersman's cage, and myself direct our 
course. And now if you will go down, M. Aronnax, 
the Nautilus is going under the waves, and will not 
return to the surface until we have passed through 
the Arabian tunnel." 

Captain Nemo led me towards the central staircase; 
half-way down he opened a door, traversed the upper 
deck, and landed in the pilot's cage, which it may be 
remembered rose at the extremity of the platform. It 
was a cabin measuring six feet square, very much like 
that occupied by the pilot on the steamboats of the 


252 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Mississippi or Hudson. In the midst worked a 
wheel, placed vertically, and caught to the tiller-rope, 
wliich ran to the back of the Nautilus. Four light- 
ports with lenticular glasses, let in a groove in the par- 
tition of the cabin, allowed the man at the wheel to 
see in all directions. 

This cabin was dark; but soon my eyes accustomed 
themselves to the obscurity, and I perceived the pilot, 
a strong man, with his hands resting on the spokes of 
the wheel. Outside, the sea appeared vividly lit up 
by the lantern, which shed its rays from the back of 
the cabin to the other extremity of the platform. 

“ Now,” said Captain Nemo, “ let us try to make our 
passage.” 

Electric wires connected the pilot’s cage with the 
machinery room, and from there the Captain could 
communicate simultaneously to his Nautilus the direc- 
tion and the speed. He pressed a metal knob, and at 
once the speed of the screw diminished. 

I looked in silence at the high straight wall we were 
running by at this moment, the immovable base of a 
massive sandy coast. We followed it thus for an hour 
only some few yards off. 

Captain Nemo did not take his eye from the knob, 
suspended by its two concentric circles in the cabin. 
At a simple gesture, the pilot modified the course of 
the Nautilus every instant. 

I had placed myself at the port-scuttle, and saw some 
magnificent substructures of coral, zoophytes, seaweed, 
and fucus, agitating their enormous claws, which 
stretched out from the fissures of the rock. 

At a quarter past ten, the Captain himself took the 
helm. A large gallery, black and deep, opened before 


UNDER THE SEA 


353 


US. The Nautilus went boldly into it. A strange 
roaring was heard round its sides. It was the waters 
of the Red Sea, which the incline of the tunnel pre- 
cipitated violently towards the Mediterranean. The 
Nautilus went with the torrent, rapid as an arrow, in 
spite of the efforts of the machinery, which, in order 
to offer more effective resistance, beat the waves with 
reversed screw. 

On the walls of the narrow passage I could see 
nothing but brilliant rays, straight lines, furrows of 
fire, traced by the great speed, under the brilliant elec- 
tric light. My heart beat fast. 

At thirty-five minutes past ten. Captain Nemo 
quitted the helm ; and, turning to me, said — 

“ The Mediterranean ! '' 

In less than twenty minutes, the Nautilus, carried 
along by the torrent, had passed through the Isthmus 
of Suez. 




CHAPTER VI 

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 

The next day, the T2th of February, at the dawn of 
day, the Nautilus rose to the surface. I hastened on 
to the platform. Three miles to the south the dim 
outline of Pelusium was to be seen. A torrent had 
carried us from one sea to the other. About seven 
o’clock Ned and Conseil joined me. 

Well, Sir Naturalist,” said the Canadian, in a 
slightly jovial tone, ^‘and the Mediterranean?” 

“We are floating on its surface, friend Ned.” 

“ What ! ” said Conseil, “ this very night ! ” 

“Yes, this very night; in a few minutes we have 
passed this impassable isthmus.” 

“ I do not believe it,” replied the Canadian. 

“ Then you are wrong. Master Land,” I continued ; 
“ this low coast which rounds off to the south is the 
Egyptian coast. And you, who have such good eyes, 
Ned, you can see the jetty of Port Said stretching into 
the sea.” 

The Canadian looked attentively. 

“ Certainly you are right, sir, and your Captain is a 
first-rate man. We are in the Mediterranean. Good! 
Now, if you please, let us talk of our own little affair, 
but so that no one hears us.” 

I saw what the Canadian wanted, and, in any case, 
I thought it better to let him talk, as he wished it; 


UNDER THE SEA 


255 


so we all three went and sat down near the lantern, 
where we were less exposed to the spray of the blades. 

Now, Ned, we listen; what have you to tell us? ’’ 

“ What I have to tell you is very simple. We are 
in Europe; and before Captain Nemo’s caprices drag 
us once more to the bottom of the Polar Seas, or lead 
us into Oceania, I ask to leave the Nautilus” 

I wished in no way to shackle the liberty of my com- 
panions, but I certainly felt no desire to leave Captain 
Nemo. 

Thanks to him, and thanks to his apparatus, I was 
each day nearer the completion of my submarine 
studies; and I was re-writing my book of submarine 
depths in its very element. Should I ever again have 
such an opportunity of observing the wonders of the 
ocean? No, certainly not! And I could not bring 
myself tb the idea of abandoning the Nautiîws before 
the cycle of investigation was accomplished. 

Friend Ned, answer me frankly, are you tired of 
being on board? Are you sorry that destiny has 
thrown us into Captain Nemo’s hands?” 

The Canadian remained some moments without 
answering. Then crossing his arms, he said — 

“Frankly, I do not regret this journey under the 
seas. I shall be glad to have made it; but now that 
it is made, let us have done with it. That is my idea.” 

“ It will come to an end, Ned.” 

“ Where and when ? ” 

“ Where I do not know — when I cannot say ; or 
rather, I suppose it will end when these seas have 
nothing more to teach us.” 

“ Then what do you hope for ? ” demanded the 
Canadian. 


256 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ That circumstances may occur as well six months 
hence as now by which we may and ought to profit.” 

“ Oh! ” said Ned Land, “ and where shall we be in 
six months, if you please. Sir Naturalist?” 

“ Perhaps in China ; you know the Nautilus is a 
rapid traveller. It goes through water as swallows 
through the air, or as an express on the land. It does 
not fear frequented seas ; who can say that it may not 
beat the coasts of France, England, or America, on 
which flight may be attempted as advantageously as 
here.” 

“ M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, ‘‘ your argu- 
ments are rotten at the foundation. You speak in the 
future, ' We shall be there ! we shall be here ! ’ I 
speak in the present, ' We are here, and we must 
profit by it.’ ” 

Ned Land’s logic pressed me hard, and I felt myself 
beaten on that ground. I knew not what argument 
would now tell in my favour. 

“ Sir,” continued Ned, “ let us suppose an impossi- 
bility; if Captain Nemo should this day offer you your 
liberty, would you accept it ? ” 

“ I do not know,” I answered. 

And if,” be added, the offer he made you this 
day was never to be renewed, would you accept it?” 

“ Friend Ned, this is my answer. Your reasoning 
is against me. We must not rely on Captain Nemo’s 
good-will. Common prudence forbids him to set us 
at liberty. On the other side, prudence bids us profit 
by the first opportunity to leave the Nautilus” 

“ Well, M. Aronnax, that is wisely said.” 

‘‘Only one observation — just one. The occasion 
must be serious, and our first attempt must succeed ; if 


UNDER THE SEA 


257 


it fails, we shall never find another, and Captain Nemo 
will never forgive us.” 

All that is true,” replied the Canadian. ** But 
your observation applies equally to all attempts at 
flight, whether in two years’ time, or in two days’. 
But the question is still this: If a favourable opportu- 
nity presents itself, it must be seized.” 

“ Agreed ! and now, Ned, will you tell me what you 
mean by a favourable opportunity ? ” 

It will be that which, on a dark night will bring 
the Nautihis a short distance from some European 
coast.” 

“ And you will try and save yourself by swim- 
ming ? ” 

“ Yes, if we were near enough to the bank, and if 
the vessel was floating at the time. Not if the bank 
was far away, and the boat was under the water.” 

“ And in that case ? ” 

In that case, I should seek to make myself master 
of the pinnace. I know how it is worked. We must 
get inside, and the bolts once drawn, we shall come to 
the surface of the water, without even the pilot, who 
is in the bows, perceiving our flight.” 

Well, Ned, watch for the opportunity; but do not 
forget that a hitch will ruin us.” 

'' I will not forget, sir.” 

‘‘ And now, Ned, would you like to know what I 
think of your project?” 

** Certainly, M. Aronnax.” 

Well, I think — I do not say I hope — I think that 
this favourable opportunity will never present itself.” 

Why not? ” 

Because Captain Nemo cannot hide from himself 


258 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


that we have not given up all hope of regaining our 
liberty, and he will be on his guard, above all, in the 
seas, and in the sight of European coasts.” 

“ We shall see,” replied Ned Land, shaking his 
head determinedly. 

And now, Ned Land,” I added, ‘‘ let us stop here. 
Not another word on the subject. The day that you 
are ready, come and let us know, and we will follow 
you. I rely entirely upon you.” 

Thus ended a conversation which, at no very dis- 
tant time, led to such grave results. I must say here 
that facts seemed to confirm my foresight, to the Cana- 
dian’s great despair. Did Captain Nemo distrust us 
in these frequented seas? or did he only wish to hide 
himself from the numerous vessels, of all nations, 
which ploughed the Mediterranean ? I could not tell ; 
but we were oftener between waters, and far from the 
coast. Or, if the Nautilus did emerge, nothing was to 
be seen but the pilot’s cage; and sometimes it went 
to great depths, for, between the Grecian Archipelago 
and Asia Minor, we could not touch the bottom by 
more than a thousand fathoms. 

Thus I only knew we were near the Island of Car- 
pathos, one of the Sporades, by Captain Nemo reciting 
these lines from Virgil — 

*‘Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates, 

Cæruleus Proteus,” 

as he pointed to a spot on the planisphere. 

It was indeed the ancient abode of Proteus, the old 
shepherd of Neptune’s flocks, now the Island of Scar- 
panto, situated between Rhodes and Crete. I aaw 


UNDER THE SEA 


259 


nothing but the granite base through the glass panels 
of the saloon. 

The next day, the 14th of Febrauary, I resolved to 
employ some hours in studying the fishes of the Archi- 
pelago; but for some reason or other, the panels re- 
mained hermetically sealed. Upon taking the course 
of the Nautilus I found that we were going towards 
Candia, the ancient Isle of Crete. At the time I em- 
barked on the Abraham Lincoln^ the whole of this 
island had risen in insurrection against the despotism 
of the Turks. But how the insurgents had fared since 
that time I was absolutely ignorant, and it was not 
Captain Nemo, deprived of all land communications, 
who could tell me. 

I made no allusion to this event when that night I 
found myself alone with him in the saloon. Besides, 
he seemed to be taciturn and preoccupied. Then, 
contrary to his custom, he ordered both panels to be 
opened, and going from one to the other, observed the 
mass of waters attentively. To what end I could not 
guess; so, on my side, I employed my time in study- 
ing the fish passing before my eyes. 

Amongst others, I remarked some gobies, mentioned 
by Aristotle, and commonly known by the name of sea- 
braches, which are more particularly met with in the 
salt waters lying near the Delta of the Nile. Near 
them rolled some sea-bream, half phosphorescent, a 
kind of spams, which the Egyptians ranked amongst 
their sacred animals, whose arrival in the waters of 
their river announced a fertile overflow, and was 
celebrated by religious ceremonies. I also noticed 
some cheilines about nine inches long, a bony fish with 
transparent shell, whose livid colour is mixed with red 


200 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


spots; they are great eaters of marine vegetation, 
which gives them an exquisite flavour. These chei- 
lines were much sought after by the epicures of ancient 
Rome; the inside, dressed with the soft roe of the 
lamprey, peacocks’ brains and tongues of the pheni- 
coptera, composed that divine dish of which Vitellius 
was so enamoured. 

Another inhabitant of these seas drew my attention, 
and led my mind back to recollections of antiquity. 
It was the remora, that fastens on to the shark’s 
belly. This little fish, according to the ancients, hook- 
ing on to the ship’s bottom, could stop its movements ; 
and one of them, by keeping back Antony’s ship dur- 
ing the battle of Actium, helped Augustus to gain the 
victory. On how little hangs the destiny of nations! 
I observed some fine anthiae, which belong to the order 
of lut j ans, a fish held sacred by the Greeks, who attrib- 
uted to them the power of hunting the marine mon- 
sters from waters they frequented. Their name signi- 
fies flower j and they justify their appellation by their 
shaded colours, their shades comprising the whole 
gamut of reds, from the paleness of the rose to the 
brightness of the ruby, and the fugitive tints that 
clouded their dorsal fin. My eyes could not leave 
these wonders of the sea, when they were suddenly 
struck by an unexpected apparition. 

In the midst of the waters a man appeared, a diver, 
carrying at his belt a leathern purse. It was not a 
body abandoned to the waves; it was a living man, 
swimming with a strong hand, disappearing occasion- 
ally to take breath at the surface. 

I turned towards Captain Nemo, and in an agitated 
voice exclaimed — 


UNDER THE SEA 


261 


A man shipwrecked ! He must be saved at any 
price ! ’’ 

The Captain did not answer me, but came and 
leaned against the panel. 

Tlie man had approached, and with his face flattened 
against the glass, was looking at us. 

To my great amazement. Captain Nemo signed to 
him. The diver answered with his hand, mounted 
immediately to the surface of the water, and did not 
appear again. 

“ Do not be uncomfortable,'’ said Captain Nemo. 
‘‘ It is Nicholas of Cape Matapan, surnamed Pesca. 
He is well known in all the Cyclades. A bold diver! 
water is his element, and he lives more in it than on 
land, going continually from one island to another, 
even as far as Crete.” 

“ You know him, Captain? ” 

“ Why not, M. Aronnax ? ” 

Saying which. Captain Nemo went towards a piece 
of furniture standing near the left panel of the saloon. 
Near this piece of furniture, I saw a chest with iron, 
on the cover of which was a copper plate, bearing the 
cypher of the Nautilus with its device. 

At that moment, the Captain, without noticing my 
presence, opened the piece of furniture, a sort of 
strong box, which held a great many ingots. 

They were ingots of gold. From whence came this 
precious metal, which represented an enormous sum? 
Where did the Captain gather this gold from? and 
what was he going to do with it? 

I did not say one word. I looked. Captain Nemo 
took the ingots one by one, and arranged them method- 
ically in the chest, which he filled entirely. I esti- 


262 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 

mated the contents at more than 4000 lbs. weight of 
gold, that is to say, nearly £200,000. 

The chest was securely fastened, and the Captain 
wrote an address on the lid, in characters which must 
have belonged to modern Greece. 

This done. Captain Nemo pressed a knob, the wire 
of which communicated with the quarters of the crew. 
Four men appeared, and, not without some trouble, 
pushed the chest out of the saloon. Then I heard 
them hoisting it up the iron staircase by means of 
pulleys. 

At that moment. Captain Nemo turned to me. 

“ And you were saying, sir ? said he. 

“ I was saying nothing. Captain.” 

“Then, sir, if you will allow me, I will wish you 
good-night.” 

Whereupon he turned and left the saloon. 

I returned to my room much troubled, as one may 
believe. I vainly tried to sleep, — I sought the con- 
necting link between the apparition of the diver and 
the chest filled with gold. Soon, I felt by certain 
movements of pitching and tossing, that the Nau- 
tilus was leaving the depths and returning to the 
surface. 

Then I heard steps upon the platform; and I knew 
they were unfastening the pinnace, and launching it 
upon the waves. For one instant it struck the side of 
the Nautilus, then all noise ceased. 

Two hours after, the same noise, the same going and 
coming was renewed; the boat was hoisted on board, 
replaced in its socket, and the Nautilus again plunged 
under the waves. 

So these millions had been transported to their 


UNDER THE 5 EA 


263 


address. To what point of the Continent? Who was 
Captain Nemo's correspondent? 

The next day, I related to Conseil and the Canadian 
the events of the night, which had excited my curiosity 
to the highest degree. My companions were not less 
surprised than myself. 

“ But where does he take his millions to ? ” asked 
Ned Land. 

To that there was no possible answer. I returned 
to the saloon after having breakfast, and set to work. 
Till five o’clock in the evening, I employed myself in 
arranging my notes. At that moment — (ought I to 
attribute it to some peculiar idiosyncrasy), — I felt so 
great a heat that I was obliged to take off my coat of 
byssus ! It was strange, for we were not under low 
latitudes ; and even then, the Nautilus, submerged as it 
was, ought to experience no change of temperature. 
I looked at the manometer ; it showed a depth of sixty 
feet, to which atmospheric heat could never attain. 

I continued my work, but the temperature rose to 
such a pitch as to be intolerable. 

‘‘ Could there be fire on board ?” I asked myself. 

I was leaving the saloon, when Captain Nemo en- 
tered; he approached the thermometer, consulted it, 
and turning to me, said — 

“ Forty-two degrees.” 

** I have noticed it. Captain,” I replied ; and if it 
gets much hotter we cannot bear it.” 

Oh ! sir, it will not get hotter if we do not wish it.” 

“You can reduce it as you please, then?” 

“No; but I can go further from the stove which 
produces it.” 

“ It is outward then ! ” 


264 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Certainly ; we are floating in a current of boiling 
water/’ 

“ Is it possible ! ” I exclaimed. 

Look.” 

The panels opened, and I saw the sea entirely white 
all round. A sulphurous smoke was curling amid the 
waves, which boiled like water in a copper. I placed 
my hand on one of the panes of glass, but the heat was 
so great that I quickly took it off again. 

“ Where are we ? ” I asked. 

“ Near the Island of Santorin, sir,” replied the Cap- 
tain, “and just in the canal which separates Nea 
Kamenni from Pali Kamenni. I wished to give you 
a sight of the curious spectacle of a submarine erup- 
tion.” 

“ I thought,” said I, “ that the formation of these 
new islands was ended.” 

“ Nothing is ever ended in the volcanic parts of the 
sea,” replied Captain Nemo ; “ and the globe is always 
being worked by subterranean fires. Already, in the 
nineteenth year of our era, according to Cassiodorus 
and Pliny, a new island, Theia (the divine), appeared 
in the very place where these islets have recently been 
formed. Then they sank under the waves, to rise 
again in the year 69, when they again subsided. Since 
that time to our days, the Plutonian work has been sus- 
pended. But, on the 3d of February, 1866, a new 
island, which they named George Island, emerged 
from the midst of the sulphurous vapour near Nea 
Kamenni, and settled again the 6th of the same month. 
Seven days after, the 13th of February, the Island of 
Aphroessa appeared, leaving between Nea Kamenni 
and itself a canal ten yards broad. I was in these 


UNDER -THE SEA 


265 


seas when the phenomenon occurred, and I was able 
therefore to observe all the different phases. The 
Island of Aphroessa, of round form, measured 300 
feet in diameter, and thirty feet in height. It was 
composed of black and vitreous lava, mixed with frag- 
ments of felspar. And lately, on the loth of March, a 
smaller island, called Reka, showed itself near Nea 
Kamenni, and since then, these three have joined 
together, forming but one and the same island.” 

‘‘ And the canal in which we are at this moment? ” 
I asked. 

“ Here it is,” replied Captain Nemo, showing me a 
map of the Archipelago. “ You see I have marked the 
new islands.” 

I returned to the glass. The Nautilus was no longer 
moving, the heat was becoming unbearable. The sea, 
which till now had been white, was red, owing to the 
presence of salts of iron. In spite of the ship’s being 
hermetically sealed, an insupportable smell of sulphur 
filled the saloon, and the brilliancy of the electricity 
was entirely extinguished by bright scarlet flames. I 
was in a bath, I was choking, I was broiled. 

We can remain no longer in this boiling water,” 
said I to the Captain. 

'' It would not be prudent,” replied the impassive 
Captain Nemo. 

An order was given ; the Nautilus tacked about and 
left the furnace it could not brave with impunity. A 
quarter of an hour after we were breathing fresh air 
on the surface. The thought then struck me that, if 
Ned Land had chosen this part of the sea for our 
flight, we should never have come alive out of this 
sea of fire. 


266 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


The next day, the i6th of February, we left the 
basin which, between Rhodes and Alexandria, is reck- 
oned about 1500 fathoms in depth, and the Nautilus, 
passing some distance from Cerigo, quitted the 
Grecian Archipelago, after having doubled Cape 
M^tapan« 


CHAPTER VII 


THE MEDITERRANEAN IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS 

The Mediterranean, the blue sea par excellence, “the 
great sea ” of the Hebrews, “ the sea of the Greeks, 
the “ mare nostrum ” of the Romans, bordered by 
orange-trees, aloes, cacti, and sea-pines ; embalmed 
with the perfume of the myrtle, surrounded by rude 
mountains, saturated with pure and transparent air, 
but incessantly worked by underground fires, a perfect 
battlefield in which Neptune and Pluto still dispute 
the empire of the world! 

It is upon these banks, and on these waters, says 
Michelet, that man is renewed in one of the most 
powerful climates of the globe. But, beautiful as it 
was, I could only take a rapid glance at the basin 
whose superficial area is two million of square yards. 
Even Captain Nemo’s knowledge was lost to me, for 
this enigmatical person did not appear once during our 
passage at full speed. I estimated the course which 
the Nautilus took under the waves of the sea at about 
six hundred leagues, and it was accomplished in forty- 
eight hours. Starting on the morning of the i6th of 
February from the shores of Greece, we had crossed 
the Straits of Gibraltar by sunrise on the i8th. 

It was plain to me that this Mediterranean, enclosed 
in the midst of those countries which he wished to 
avoid, was distaseful to Captain Nemo. Those waves 


268 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


and those breezes brought back too many remem- 
branceSj if not too many regrets. Here he had no 
longer that independence and that liberty of gait which 
he had when in the open seas, and his Nautilus felt 
itself cramped between the close shores of Africa and 
Europe. 

Our speed was now twenty-five miles an hour. It 
may be well understood that Ned Land, to his great 
disgust, was obliged to renounce his intended flight. 
He could not launch the pinnace, going at the rate 
of twelve or thirteen yards every second. To quit the 
Nmtilus under such conditions would be as bad as 
jumping from a train going at full speed — an im- 
prudent thing, to say the least of it. Besides, our 
vessel only mounted to the surface of the waves at 
night to renew its stock of air ; it was steered entirely 
by the compass and the log. 

I saw no more of the interior of this Mediterranean 
than a traveller by express train perceives of the 
landscape which flies before his eyes ; that is to say, the 
distant horizon, and not the nearer objects which pass 
like a flash of lightning. 

In the midst of the mass of waters brightly lit up 
by the electric light, glided some of those lampreys, 
more than a yard long, common to almost every 
climate. Some of the oxyrhynchi, a kind of ray five 
feet broad, with white belly and grey spotted back, 
spread out like a large shawl carried along by the cur- 
rent. Other rays passed so quickly that I could not 
see if they deserved the name of eagles which was 
given to them by the ancient Greeks, or the qualifi- 
cation of rats, toads, and bats, with which modern 
fishermen have loaded them. A few milander sharks, 


UNDER THE SEA 


269 


twelve feet long, and much feared by divers, struggled 
amongst them. Sea-foxes eight feet long, endowed 
with wonderful fineness of scent, appeared like large 
blue shadows. Some dorades of the shark kind, some 
of which measured seven feet and a half, showed them- 
selves in their dress of blue and silver, encircled by 
small bands which struck sharply against the sombre 
tints of their fins, a fish consecrated to Venus, the eyes 
of which are encased in a socket of gold, a precious 
species, friend of all waters, fresh or salt, an inhabi- 
tant of rivers, lakes, and oceans, living in all climates, 
and bearing all temperatures ; a race belonging to the 
geological era of the earth, and which has preserved 
all the beautv of its first days. Magnificent sturgeons, 
nine or ten yaras long, creatures of great speed, strik- 
ing the panes of glass with their strong tails, displayed 
their bluish backs with small brown spots; they re- 
semble the sharks, but are not equal to them in 
strength, and are to be met with in all seas. But of 
all the diverse inhabitants of the Mediterranean, those 
I observed to the greatest advantage, when the 
Nautilus approached the surface, belonged to the sixty- 
third genus of bony fish. They were a kind of tunny, 
with bluish black backs, and silvery breastplates, whose 
dorsal fins threw out sparkles of gold. They are said 
to follow in the wake of vessels whose refreshing 
shade they seek from the fire of a tropical sky, and 
they did not belie the saying, for they accompanied the 
Nautilus as they did in former times the vessel of 
La Perouse. For many a long hour they struggled 
to keep up with our vessel. I was never tired of 
admiring these creatures really built for speed, — their 
small heads, their bodies lithe and cigar-shaped, which 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


270 

in some were more than three yards long, their pectoral 
fins and forked tail endowed with remarkable strength. 
They swam in a triangle, like certain flocks of birds, 
whose rapidity they equalled, and of which the ancients 
used to say that they understood geometry and strategy. 
But still they do not escape the pursuit of the Pro- 
vençals, who esteem them as highly as the inhabitants 
of the Propontis and of Italy used to do; and these 
precious, but blind and foolhardy creatures, perish by 
millions in the nets of the Marseillaise. 

With regard to the species of fish common to the 
Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the giddy speed of the 
Nautilus prevented me from observing them with any 
degree of accuracy. 

As to marine mammals, I thought, in passing the 
entrance of the Adriatic, that I saw two or three 
cachalots, furnished with one dorsal fin, of the genus 
physetera, some dolphins of the genus globicephali, 
peculiar to the Mediterranean, the back part of the 
head being marked like a zebra with small lines ; also, 
a dozen of seals, with white bellies and black hair, 
known by the name of monks, and which really have 
the air of a Dominican ; they are about three yards in 
length. 

As to zoophytes, for some instants I was able to 
admire a beautiful orange galeolaria, which had 
fastened itself to the port panel; it held on by a long 
filament, and was divided into an infinity of branches, 
terminated by the finest lace which could ever have 
been woven by the rivals of Arachne herself. Unfor- 
tunately, I could not take this admirable specimen; 
and doubtless no other Mediterranean zoophyte would 
have offered itself to my observation, if, on the night 


UNDER THE SEA 


271 


of the 1 6 th, the Nautilus had not, singularly enough, 
slackened its speed, under the following circumstances. 

We were then passing between Sicily and the coast 
of Tunis. In the narrow space between Cape Bon 
and the Straits of Messina, the bottom of the sea rose 
almost suddenly. There was a perfect bank, on which 
there was not more than nine fathoms of water, whilst 
on either side the depth was ninety fathoms. 

The Nautilus had to manoeuvre very carefully so as 
not to strike against this submarine barrier. 

I showed Conseil, on the map of the Mediterranean, 
the spot occupied by this reef. 

“ But if you please, sir,” observed Conseil, “ it is 
like a real isthmus joining Europe to Africa. 

“ Yes, my boy, it forms a perfect bar to the Straits of 
Libya, and the soundings of Smith have proved that 
in former times the continents between Cape Boco and 
Cape Purina were joined.” 

“ I can well believe it,” said Conseil. 

I will add,” I continued, that a similar barrier 
exists between Gibraltar and Ceuta, which in geolog- 
ical times formed the entire Mediterranean.” 

What if some volcanic burst should one day raise 
these two barriers above the waves ? ” 

It is not probable. Conseil.” 

** Well, but allow me to finish, please, sir ; if this 
phenomenon should take place, it will be troublesome 
for M. Lesseps, who has taken so much pains to pierce 
the isthmus.” 

I agree with you ; but I repeat. Conseil, this phe- 
nomenon will never happen. The violence of sub- 
terranean force is ever diminishing. Volcanoes, so 
plentiful in the first days of the world, are being ex- 


272 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


tinguished by degrees; the internal heat is weakened, 
the temperature of the lower strata of the globe is 
lowered by a perceptible quantity every century to the 
detriment of our globe, for its heat is its life. 

‘‘ But the sun ? ” 

The sun is not sufficient. Conseil. Can it give heat 
to .a dead body ? ” 

“ Not that I know of.” 

Well, my friend, this earth will one day be that 
cold corpse; it will become uninhabitable and unin- 
habited like the moon, which has long since lost all its 
vital heat.” 

“ In how many centuries ? ” 

“ In some hundreds of thousands of years, my boy.” 

“ Then,” said Conseil, “ we shall have time to finish 
our journey, that is, if Ned Land does not interfere 
with it.” 

And Conseil, reassured, returned to the study of the 
bank, which the Nautilus was skirting at a moderate 
speed. 

There, beneath the rocky and volcanic bottom, lay 
outspread a living flora of sponges and reddish cy- 
dippes, which emitted a slight phosphorescent light, 
commonly known by the name of sea-cucumbers ; and 
walking comatulæ more than a yard long, the purple 
of which completely coloured the water around. 

The Nautilus having now passed the high bank in 
the Libyan Straits, returned to the deep waters and its 
accustomed speed. 

From that time no more molluscs, no more articu- 
lates, no more zoophytes ; barely a few large fish pass- 
ing like shadows. 

During the night of the i6th and 17th February, we 


UNDER THE SEA 


273 


had entered the second Mediterranean basin, the 
greatest depth of which was 1450 fathoms. The 
Nautilus, by the action of its screw, slid down the 
inclined planes, and buried itself in the lowest depths 
of the sea. 

On the 1 8th of February, about three o’clock in the 
morning, we were at the entrance of the Straits of 
Gibraltar. There once existed two currents : an upper 
one, long since recognised, which conveys the waters 
of the ocean into the basin of the Mediterranean ; and a 
lower counter-current, which reasoning has now shown 
to exist. Indeed, the volume of water in the Mediter- 
ranean, incessantly added to by the waves of the 
Atlantic, and by rivers falling into it, would each year 
raise the level of this sea, for its evaporation is not 
sufficient to restore the equilibrium. As it is not so, we 
must necessarily admit the existence of an under- 
current, which empties into the basin of the Atlantic, 
through the Straits of Gibraltar, the surplus waters of 
the Mediterranean. A fact indeed; and it was this 
counter-current by which the Nautilus profited. It 
advanced rapidly by the narrow pass. For one instant 
I caught a glimpse of the beautiful ruins of the temple 
of Hercules, buried in the ground, according to Pliny, 
and with the low island which supports it; and a few 
minutes later we were floating on the Atlantic. 


CHAPTER VIII 


VIGO BAY 

The Atlantic! a vast sheet of water, whose super- ^ 
ficial area covers twenty-five millions of square miles, 
the length of Vv^hich is nine thousand miles, with a mean 
breadth of two thousand seven hundred, — an ocean 
whose parallel winding shores embrace an immense 
circumference, watered by the largest rivers of the 
world, the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the Amazon, 
the Plata, the Orinoco, the Niger, the Senegal, the 
Elbe, the Loire, and the Rhine, which carry water from 
the most civilised, as well as from the most savage 
countries ! Magnificent field of water, incessantly 
ploughed by vessels of every nation, sheltered by the 
flags of every nation, and which terminates in those 
two terrible points so dreaded by mariners. Cape Horn, 
and the Cape of Tempests ! 

The Nautilus was piercing the water with its sharp 
spur, after having accomplished nearly ten thousand 
leagues in three months and a half, a distance greater 
than the great circle of the earth. Where were we go- 
ing now ? and what was reserved for the future ? The 
Nautilus, leaving the Straits of Gibraltar, had gone far 
out. It returned to the surface of the waves, and our 
daily walks on the platform were restored to us. 

I mounted at once, accompanied by Ned Land and 
Conseil. At a distance of about twelve miles, Cape 
St. Vincent was dimly to be seen, forming the south- 


UNDER THE SEA 


275 


western point of the Spanish peninsula. A strong 
southerly gale was blowing. The sea was swollen 
and billowy; it made the Nautilus rock violently. It 
was almost impossible to keep one’s footing on the 
platform, which the heavy rolls of the sea beat over 
every instant. So we descended after inhaling some 
mouthfuls of fresh air. 

I returned to my room, Conseil to his cabin ; but the 
Canadian, with a preoccupied air, followed me. Our 
rapid passage across the Mediterranean had not al- 
lowed him to put his project into execution, and he 
could not help showing his disappointment. When 
the door of my room was shut, he sat down and looked 
at me silently. 

Friend Ned,” said I, “ I understand you; but you 
cannot reproach yourself. To have attempted to leave 
the Nautilus under the circumstances would have been 
folly.” 

Ned Land did not answer; his compressed lips, and 
frowning brow, showed with him the violent possession 
this fixed idea had taken of his mind. 

‘^Let us see,” I continued; ‘‘we need not despair 
yet. We are going up the coast of Portugal again; 
France and England are not far off, where we can 
easily find refuge. Now, if the Nautilus, on leaving 
the Straits of Gibraltar, had gone to the south, if it 
had carried us towards regions where there were no 
continents, I should share your uneasiness. But we 
know now that Captain Nemo does not fly from 
civilised seas, and in some days I think you can act 
with security.” 

Ned Land still looked at me fixedly, at length his 
fixed lips parted, and he said, “ It is for to-night.” 


276 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


I drew myself up suddenly. I was, I admit, little 
prepared for this communication. I wanted to answer 
the Canadian, but words would not come. 

‘‘ We agreed to wait for an opportunity,’’ continued 
Ned Land, and the opportunity has arrived. This 
night we shall be but a few miles from the Spanish 
coast. It is cloudy. The wind blows freely. I have 
your word, M. Aronnax, and I rely upon you.” 

As I was still silent, the Canadian approached me. 

“ To-night, at nine o’clock,” said he. I have 
warned Conseil. At that moment. Captain Nemo will 
be shut up in his room, probably in bed. Neither the 
engineers nor the ship’s crew can see us. Conseil and 
I will gain the central staircase, and you, M. Aronnax, 
will remain in the library, two steps from us, waiting 
my signal. The oars, the mast, and the sail, are in the 
canoe. I have even succeeded in getting in some 
provisions. I have procured an English wrench, to 
unfasten the bolts which attach it to the shell of the 
Nautilus. So all is ready, till to-night.” 

“ The sea is bad.” 

“ That I allow,” replied the Canadian ; but we 
must risk that. Liberty is worth paying for ; besides, 
the boat is strong, and a few miles with a fair wind to 
carry us, is no great thing. Who knows but by to- 
morrow we may be a hundred leagues away? Let 
circumstances only favour us, and by ten or eleven 
o’clock we shall have landed on some spot of terra 
nrma, alive or dead. But adieu now till to-night.” 

With these words the Canadian withdrew, leaving 
me almost dumb. I had imagined that, the chance 
gone, I should have time to reflect and discuss the 
matter. My obstinate companion had given me no 


277 


UNDER THE SEA 


time; and, after all, what could I have said to him? 
Ned Land was p ^rfectly right. There was almost the 
opportunity to \ ;ofit by. Could I retract my word, 
and take upon myself the responsibility of compromis- 
ing the future of my companions? To-morrow Cap- 
tain Nemo iriight take us far from all land. 

At that moment a rather loud hissing told me that 
the reservoirs were filling, and that the Nautilus was 
sinking under the waves of the Atlantic. 

A sad day I passed, between the desire of regaining 
my libx'^rty of action, and of abandoning the wonder- 
ful Nautilus, and leaving my submarine studies in- 
complete. 

What dreadful hours I passed thus ! sometimes 
seeing myself and companions safely landed, sometimes 
wishing, in spite of my reason, that some unforeseen 
circumstances would prevent the realisation of Ned 
Land’s project. 

Twice I went to the saloon. I wished to consult the 
compass. I wished to see if the direction the Nautilus 
was taking was bringing us nearer or taking us farther 
from the coast. But no; the Nautilus kept in Portu- 
guese waters. 

I must therefore take my part, and prepare for 
flight. My luggage was not heavy; my notes nothing 
more. 

As to Captain Nemo, I asked myself what he would 
think of our escape ; what trouble, what wrong it might 
cause him, and what he might do in case of its dis- 
covery or failure. Certainly I had no cause to com- 
plain of him; on the contrary, never was hospitality 
freer than his. In leaving him I could not be taxed 
with ingratitude. No oath bound us to him. It was 


278 


IvVENTV THOUSAND îÆAGUES 


on the strength of circumstances le relied, and not 
upon our word, to fix us for ever. 

I had not seen the Captain sin. ^ our visit to the 
Island of Santorin. Would chance bring me to his 
presence before our departure? I wished it, and I 
feared it at the same time. I listened if I could hear 
him walking in the room contiguous to mine. No 
sound reached my ear. I felt an unbearable uk easiness. 
This day of waiting seemed eternal . Hours str uck too 
slowly to keep pace with my impatience. 

My dinner was served in my room- as usi al. I a'.e 
but little, I was too preoccupied. I left the table at 
seven o’clock. À hundred and twenty minutes (I 
counted them) still separated me from the moment in 
which I was to join Ned Land. My agitation re- 
doubled. My pulse beat violently. I could not remain 
quiet. I went and came, hoping to calm my troubled 
spirit by constant movement. The idea of failure, in 
our bold enterprise was the least painful of my anxie- 
ties; but the thought of seeing our project discovered 
before leaving the Nautilus, of being brought before 
Captain Nemo, irritated, or (what was worse) sad- 
dened at my desertion, made my heart beat. 

I wanted to see the saloon for the last time. I de- 
scended the stairs, and arrived in the museum where 
I had passed so many useful and agreeable hours. I 
looked at all its riches, all its treasures, like a man on 
the eve of an eternal exile, who was leaving never to 
return. These wonders of Nature, these masterpieces 
of Art, amongst which, for so many days, my life had 
been concentrated, I was going to abandon them for 
ever ! I should like to have taken a last look through 
the windows of the saloon into the waters of the 


UNDER THE SEA 


279 


Atlantic : but the panels were hermetically closed, and 
a cloak of steel separated me from that ocean which 
I had not yet explored. 

In passing through the saloon, I came near the door, 
let into the angle, which opened into the Captain’s 
room. To my great surprise, this door stood ajar. I 
drew back, involuntarily. If Captain Nemo should 
be in his room, he could see me. But, hearing no 
noise, I drew nearer. The room was deserted. I 
pushed open the door, and took some steps forward. 
Still the same monk-like severity of aspect. 

Suddenly the clock struck eight. The first beat of 
the hammer on the bell awoke me from my dreams. I 
trembled as if an invisible eye had plunged into my 
most secret thoughts, and I hurried from the room. 

There my eye fell upon the compass. Our course 
was still north. The log indicated moderate speed, the 
manometer a depth of about sixty feet. 

I returned to my room, clothed myself warmly — 
sea boots, an otterskin cap, a great coat of byssus, 
lined with sealskin ; I was ready, I was waiting. The 
vibration of the screw alone broke the deep silence 
which reigned on board. I listened attentively. Would 
no loud voice suddenly inform me that Ned Land had 
been surprised in his projected flight? A mortal dread 
hung over me, and I vainly tried to regain my accus- 
tomed coolness. 

At a few minutes to nine, I put my ear to the Cap- 
tain’s door. No noise. I left my room and returned 
to the saloon, which was half in obscurity, but de- 
serted. 

I opened the door communicating with the library. 
The same insufficient light, the same solitude. I placed 


28 o 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


myself near the door leading to the central staircase^, 
and there waited for Ned Land’s signal. 

At that moment the trembling of the screw sensibly 
diminished, then it stopped entirely. The silence was 
now only disturbed by the beatings of my own heart. 
Suddenly a slight shock was felt ; and I knew that the 
Nautilus had stopped at the bottom of the ocean. My 
uneasiness increased. The Canadian’s signal did not 
come. I felt inclined to join Ned Land and beg of him 
to put off his attempt. I felt that we were not sailing 
under our usual conditions. 

At this moment the door of the large saloon opened, 
and Captain Nemo appeared. He saw me, and, with- 
out further preamble, began in an amiable tone of 
voice — 

‘‘Ah, sir! I have been looking for you. Do you 
know the history of Spain ? ” 

Now, one might know the history of one’s own 
country by heart; but in the condition I was at the 
time, with troubled mind and head quite lost, I could 
not have said a word of it. 

“ Well,” continued Captain Nemo, “ you heard my 
question? Do you know the history of Spain ? ” 

“ Very slightly,” I answered. 

“ Well, here are learned men having to learn,” said 
the Captain. “ Come, sit down, and I will tell you a 
curious episode in this history. Sir, listen well,” said 
he ; “ this history will interest you on one side, for it 
will answer a question which doubtless you have not 
been able to solve.” 

“ I listen. Captain,” said I, not knowing what my 
interlocutor was driving at, and asking myself if this 
incident was bearing on our projected flight 


UNDER THE SEA 


281 


“ Sir, if you have no objection, we will go back to 
1702. You cannot be ignorant that your king, Louis 
XIV., thinking that the gesture of a potentate was 
sufficient to bring the Pyrenees under his yoke, had 
imposed the Duke of Anjou, his grandson, on the 
Spaniards. This prince reigned more or less badly 
under the name of Philip V., and had a strong party 
against him abroad. Indeed, the preceding year, the 
royal houses of Holland, Austria, and England, had 
concluded a treaty of alliance at The Hague, with the 
intention of plucking the crown of Spain from the 
head of Philip V., and placing it on that of an archduke 
to whom they prematurely gave the title of Charles 
III. 

“ Spain must resist this coalition ; but she was almost 
entirely unprovided with either soldiers or sailors. 
However, money would not fail them, provided that 
their galleons, laden with gold and silver from Amer- 
ica, once entered their ports. And about the end of 
1702 they expected a rich convoy which France was 
escorting with a fleet of twenty-three vessels, com- 
manded by Admiral Château-Renaud, for the ships of 
the coalition were already beating the Atlantic. This 
convoy was to go to Cadiz, but the Admiral, hearing 
that an English fleet was cruising in those waters, 
resolved to make for a French port. 

“ The Spanish commanders of the convoy objected 
to this decision. They wanted to be taken to a Spanish 
port, and if not to Cadiz, into Vigo Bay, situated on 
the north-west coast of Spain, and which was not 
blocked. 

Admiral Château-Renaud had the rashness to obey 
this injunction, and the galleons entered Vigo Bay. 


282 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Unfortunately, it formed an open road which could 
not be defended in any way. They must therefore 
hasten to unload the galleons before the arrival of the 
combined fleet; and time would not have failed them 
had not a miserable question of rivalry suddenly 
arisen. 

“ You are following the chain of events ? ’’ asked 
Captain Nemo. 

“ Perfectly,’' said I, not knowing the end proposed 
by this historical lesson. 

“ I will continue. This is what passed. The mer- 
chants of Cadiz had a privilege by which they had the 
right of receiving all merchandise coming from the 
West Indies. Now, to disembark these ingots at the 
port of Vigo, was depriving them of their rights. They 
complained at Madrid, and obtained the consent of the 
weak-minded Philip that the convoy, without discharg- 
ing its cargo, should remain sequestered in the roads 
of Vigo until the enemy had disappeared. 

“ But whilst coming to this decision, on the 22d of 
October, 1702, the English vessels arrived in Vigo Bay, 
when Admiral Château-Renaud, in spite of inferior 
forces, fought bravely. But seeing that the treasure 
must fall into the enemy’s hands, he burnt and scuttled 
every galleon, which went to the bottom with their 
immense riches.” 

Captain Nemo stopped. I admit I could not yet see 
why this history should interest me. 

“Well?” I asked. 

“Well, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, “we 
are in that Vigo Bay; and it rests with yourself 
whether you will penetrate its mysteries.” 

The captain rose, telling me to follow him. I had 


UNDER THE SEA 


283 


had time to recover. I obeyed. The saloon was dark, 
but through the transparent glass the waves were 
sparkling. I looked. 

For half a mile around the Nautilus, the waters 
seemed bathed in electric light. The sandy bottom 
was clean and bright. Some of the ship’s crew in their 
diving dresses were clearing away half rotten barrels 
and empty cases from the midst of the blackened 
wrecks. From these cases and from these barrels 
escaped ingots of gold and silver, cascades of piastres 
and jewels. The sand was heaped up with them. 
Laden with their precious booty the men returned to 
the Nautilus, disposed of their burden, and went back 
to this inexhaustible fishery of gold and silver. 

I understood now. This was the scene of the battle 
of the 22d of October, 1702. Here on this very spot 
the galleons laden for the Spanish Government had 
sunk. Here Captain Nemo came, according to his 
wants, to pack up those millions with which he bur- 
dened the Nautilus. It was for him and him alone 
America had given up her precious metals. He was 
heir direct, without any one to share, in those treasures 
torn from the Incas and from the conquered of 
Ferdinand Cortez. 

Did you know, sir,” he asked, smiling, “ that the 
sea contained such riches ? ” 

I knew,” I answered, that they value the money 
held in suspension in these waters at two millions.” 

Doubtless ; but to extract this money the expense 
would be greater than the profit. Here, on the con- 
trary, I have but to pick up what man has lost, — and 
not only in Vigo Bay, but in a thousand other spots 
where shipwrecks have happened, and which are 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


marked on my submarine map. Can you understand 
now the source of the millions I am worth ? ” 

I understand, Captain. But allow me to tell you 
that in exploring Vigo Bay you have only been before- 
hand with a rival society.” 

“And which?” 

“A society which has received from the Spanish 
Government the privilege of seeking these buried 
galleons. The shareholders are led on by the allure- 
ment of an enormous bounty, for they value these rich 
shipwrecks at five hundred millions.” 

“ Five hundred millions they were,” answered Cap- 
tain Nemo, “ but they are so no longer.” 

“ Just so,” said I ; “ and a warning to those share- 
holders would be an act of charity. But who knows 
if it would be well received? What gamblers usually 
regret above all is less the loss of their money, than of 
their foolish hopes. After all, I pity them less than the 
thousands of unfortunates to whom so much riches 
well-distributed would have been profitable, whilst for 
them they will be for ever barren.” 

I had no sooner expressed this regret, than I felt 
that it must have wounded Captain Nemo. 

“ Barren ! ” he exclaimed, with animation. “ Do you 
think then, sir, that these riches are lost because I 
gather them ? Is it for myself alone, according to your 
idea, that I take the trouble to collect these treasures ? 
Who told you that I did not make a good use of it? 
Do you think I am ignorant that there are suffering 
beings and oppressed races on this earth, miserable 
creatures to console, victims to avenge? Do you not 
understand ? ” 

Captain Nemo stopped at these last words, regretting 


UNDER THE SEA 


perhaps that he had spoken so much. But I had 
guessed that whatever the motive which had forced 
him to seek independence under the sea, it had le/t 
him still a man, that his heart still beat for the suffer- 
ings of humanity, and that his immense charity was 
for oppressed races as well as individuals. And I 
then understood for whom those millions were des- 
tined, which were forwarded by Captain Nemo when 
the Nautilus was cruising in the waters of Crete. 



CHAPTER IX 


A VANISHED CONTINENT 

The next morning, the 19th of February, I saw the 
Canadian enter my room. I expected this visit. He 
looked very disappointed. 

** Well, sir? ” said he. 

“ Well, Ned, fortune was against us yesterday.” 

“Yes ; that Captain must needs stop exactly at the 
hour we intended leaving his vessel.” 

“ Yes, Ned, he had business at his banker’s.” 

“ His banker’s!” 

“ Or rather his banking-house ; by that I mean the 
ocean, where his riches are safer than in the chests of 
the State.” 

I then related to the Canadian the incidents of the 
preceding night, hoping to bring him back to the idea 
of not abandoning the Captain ; but my recital had no 
other result than an energetically expressed regret 
from Ned, that he had not been able to take a walk 
on the battle-field of Vigo on his own account. 

“ However,” said he, “ all is not ended. It is only 
a blow of the harpoon lost. Another time we must 
succeed; and to-night, if necessary ” 

“ In what direction is the Nautilus going? ” I asked. 

“ I do not know,” replied Ned. 

“ Well, at noon we shall see the point.” 

The Canadian returned to Conseil. As soon as I 
was dressed, I went into the saloon. The compass was 


UNDER THE SEA 


287 


not reassuring. The course of the Nautilus was 
S.S.W. We were turning our backs on Europe. 

I waited with some impatience till the ship’s place 
was pricked on the chart. At about half-past eleven 
the reservoirs were emptied, and our vessel rose to the 
surface of the ocean. I rushed towards the platform. 
Ned Land had preceded me. No more land in sight. 
Nothing but an immense sea. Some sails on the hori- 
zon, doubtless those going to San Roque in search of 
favourable winds for doubling the Cape of Good Hope. 
The weather was cloudy. A gale of wind was pre- 
paring. Ned raved, and tried to pierce the cloudy 
horizon. He still hoped that behind all that fog 
stretched the land he so longed for. 

At noon the sun showed itself for an instant. The 
second profited by this brightness to take its height. 
Then the sea becoming more billowy, we descended, 
and the panel closed. 

An hour after, upon consulting the chart, I saw the 
position of the Nautilus was marked at 16° 17' longi- 
tude, and 33° 22' latitude, at 150 leagues from the 
nearest coast. There was no means of flight, and I 
leave you to imagine the rage of the Canadian, when 
I informed him of our situation. 

For myself, I was not particularly sorry. I felt 
lightened of the load which had oppressed me, and was 
able to return with some degree of calmness to my 
accustomed work. 

That night, about eleven o’clock, I received a most 
unexpected visit from Captain Nemo. He asked me 
very graciously if I felt fatigued from my watch of 
the preceding night. I answered in the negative. 

Then, M. Aronnax, I propose a curious excursion.” 


I 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Propose, Captain ? ’’ 

“ You have hitherto only visited the submarine 
depths by daylight, under the brightness of the sun. 
Would it suit you to see them in the darkness of the 
night ? ” 

“ Most willingly.” 

I warn you, the way will be tiring. We shall have 
far to walk, and must climb a mountain. The roads 
are not well kept.” 

“ What you say. Captain, only heightens my curi- 
osity ; I am ready to follow you.” . 

Come then, sir, we will put on our diving dresses.” 

Arrived at the robing-room, I saw that neither of 
my companions nor any of the ship’s crew were to 
follow us on this excursion. Captain Nemo had not 
even proposed my taking with me either Ned or 
Conseil. 

In a few moments we had put on our diving dresses ; 
they placed on our backs the reservoirs, abundantly 
filled with air, but no electric lamps were prepared. 
I called the Captain’s attention to the fact. 

They will be useless,” he replied. 

I thought I had not heard aright, but I could not 
repeat my observation, for the Captain’s head had 
already disappeared in its metal case. I finished har- 
nessing myself, I felt them put an iron-pointed stick 
into my hand, and some minutes later, after going 
through the usual form, we set foot on the bottom of 
the Atlantic, at a depth of 150 fathoms. Midnight was 
near. The waters were profoundly dark, but Captain 
Nemo pointed out in the distance a reddish spot, a sort 
of large light shining brilliantly, about two miles from 
the Nautilus. What this fire might be, what could 


UNDER THE SEA 


289 


feed it, why and how it lit up the liquid mass, I could 
not say. In any case, it did light our way, vaguely, it 
is true, but I soon accustomed myself to the peculiar 
darkness, and I understood, under such circumstances, 
the uselessness of the Rumhkorff apparatus. 

As we advanced, I heard a kind of pattering above 
my head. The noise redoubling, sometimes producing 
a continual shower, I soon understood the cause. It 
was rain falling violently, and crisping the surface of 
the waves. Instinctively the thought flashed across 
my mind that I should be wet through ! By the water ! 
in the midst of the water ! I could not help laughing 
at the odd idea. But, indeed, in the thick diving dress, 
the liquid element is no longer felt, and one only seems 
to be in an atmosphere somewhat denser than the 
terrestrial atmosphere. Nothing more. 

After half an hour’s walk the soil became stony. 
Medusæ, microscopic Crustacea, and pennatules lit it 
slightly with their phosphorescent gleam. I caught 
a glimpse of pieces of stone covered with millions of 
zoophytes, and masses of seaweed. My feet often 
slipped upon this viscous carpet of seaweed, and with- 
out my iron-tipped stick I should have fallen more than 
once. In turning round, I could still see the whitish 
lantern of the Nautilus beginning to pale in the 
distance. 

But the rosy light which guided us increased and 
lit up the horizon. The presence of this fire under 
water puzzled me in the highest degree. Was it some 
electric effulgence? Was I going towards a natural 
phenomenon as yet unknown to the savants of the 
earth? Or even (for this thought crossed my brain) 
had the hand of man aught to do with this conflagra- 


290 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


tion? Had he fanned this flame? Was I to meet in 
these depths companions and friends of Captain Nemo 
whom he was going to visit, and who, like him, led 
this strange existence? Should I find down there a 
whole colony of exiles, who, weary of the miseries of 
this earth, had sought and found independence in the 
deep ocean? All these foolish and unreasonable ideas 
pursued me. And in this condition of mind, over- 
excited by the succession of wonders continually pass- 
ing before my eyefs, I should not have been surprised 
to meet at the bottom of the sea one of those submarine 
towns of which Captain Nemo dreamed. 

Our road grew lighter and lighter. The white 
glimmer came in rays from the summit of a mountain 
about 800 feet high. But what I saw was simply a 
reflection, developed by the clearness of the waters. 
The source of this inexplicable light was a fire on the 
opposite side of the mountain. 

In the midst of this stony maze, furrowing the 
bottom of th-e Atlantic, Captain Nemo advanced with- 
out hesitation. He knew this dreary road. Doubtless 
he had often travelled over it, and could not lose 
himself. I followed him with unshaken confidence. 
He seemed to me like a genie of the sea; and, as he 
walked before me, I could not help admiring his 
stature, which was outlined in black on the luminous 
horizon. 

It was one in the morning when we arrived at the 
first slopes of the mountain ; but to gain access to them 
we must venture through the difficult paths of a vast 
copse. 

Yes; a copse of dead trees, without leaves, without 
sap, trees petrified by the action of the water, and 


UNDER THE SEA 


291 


here and there overtopped by gigantic pines. It was 
like a coal pit, still standing, holding by the roots to the 
broken soil, and whose branches, like fine black paper 
cuttings, showed distinctly on the watery ceiling. Pic- 
ture to yourself a forest in the Hartz, hanging on to 
the sides of the mountain, but a forest swallowed up. 
The paths were encumbered with seaweed and fucus, 
between which grovelled a whole world of Crustacea. 
I went along, climbing the rocks, striding over ex- 
tended trunks, breaking the sea bind-weed, which hung 
from one tree to the other ; and frightening the fishes, 
which flew from branch to branch. Pressing onward, 
I felt no fatigue. I followed my guide, who was never 
tired. What a spectacle ! how can I express it ? how 
paint the aspect of those woods and rocks in this 
medium, — their under parts dark and wild, the upper 
coloured with red tints, by that light which the reflect- 
ing powers of the waters doubled ? We climbed rocks, 
which fell directly after with gigantic bounds, and the 
low growling of an avalanche. To right and left ran 
long, dark galleries, wliere sight was lost. Here 
opened vast glades which the hand of man seemed to 
have worked ; and I sometimes asked myself if some 
inhabitant of these submarine regions would not sud- 
denly appear to me. 

But Captain Nemo was still mounting. I could not 
stay behind. I followed boldly. My stick gave me 
good help. A false step would have been dangerous 
on the narrow passes sloping down to the sides of the 
gulfs; but I walked with firm step, without feeling 
any giddiness. Now I jumped a crevice the depth of 
which would have made me hesitate had it been 
among the glaciers on the land; now I ventured on 


292 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


the unsteady trunk of a tree, thrown across from one 
abyss to the other, without looking under my feet, 
having only eyes to admire the wild sites of this 
region. 

There, monumental rocks, leaning on their regularly 
cut bases, seemed to defy all laws of equilibrium. From 
between their stony knees, trees sprang, like a jet under 
heavy pressure, and upheld others which upheld them. 
Natural towers, large scarps, cut perpendicularly, like 
a “ curtain,” inclined at an angle which the laws of 
gravitation could never have tolerated in terrestrial 
regions. 

Two hours after quitting the Nautilus, we had 
crossed the line of trees, and a hundred feet above our 
heads rose the top of the mountain, which cast a 
shadow on the brilliant irradiation of the opposite 
slope. Some petrified shrubs ran fantastically here 
and there. Fishes got up under our feet like birds in 
the long grass. The massive rocks were rent with 
impenetrable fractures, deep grottoes and unfathomable 
holes, at the bottom of which formidable creatures 
might be heard moving. My blood curdled when I 
saw enormous antennas blocking my road, or some 
frightful claw closing with a noise in the shadow of 
some cavity. Millions of luminous spots shone brightly 
in the midst of the darkness. They were the eyes of 
giant Crustacea crouched in their holes ; giant lobsters 
setting themselves up like halberdiers, and moving 
their claws with the clicking sound of pincers ; titanic 
crabs, pointed like a gun on its carriage ; and frightful 
looking poulps, interweaving their tentacles like a 
living nest of serpents. 

We had now arrived on the first platform, where 


UNDER THE SEA 


293 


Other surprises awaited me. Before us lay some pic- 
turesque ruins, which betrayed the hand of man, and 
not that of the Creator. There were vast heaps of 
stone, amongst which might be traced the vague and 
shadowy forms of castles and temples, clothed with a 
world of blossoming zoophytes, and over which, instead 
of ivy, sea-weed and fucus threw a thick vegetable 
mantle. But what was this portion of the globe which 
had been swallowed by cataclysms? Who had placed 
those rocks and stones like cromlechs of pre-historic 
times? Where was I? Whither had Captain Nemo’s 
fancy hurried me? 

I would fain have asked him; not being able to, I 
stopped him — I seized his arm. But shaking his head, 
and pointing to the highest point of the mountain, he 
seemed to say — 

“ Come, come along ; come higher ! ” 

I followed, and in a few minutes I had climbed 
to the top, which for a circle of ten yards commanded 
the whole mass of rock. 

I looked down the side we had just climbed. The 
mountain did not rise more than seven or eight hun- 
dred feet above the level of the plain; but on the 
opposite side it commanded from twice that height the 
depths of this part of the Atlantic. My eyes ranged 
far over a large space lit by a violent fulguration. In 
fact, the mountain was a volcano. 

At fifty feet above the peak, in the midst of a rain 
of stones and scoriæ, a large crater was vomiting forth 
torrents of lava which fell in a cascade of fire into the 
bosom of the liquid mass. Thus situated, this volcano 
lit the lower plain like an immense torch, even to the 
extreme limits of the horizon. I said that the sub' 


294 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


marine crater threw up lava, but no flames. Flames 
require the oxygen of the air to feed upon, and cannot 
be developed under water ; but streams of lava, having 
in themselves the principles of their incandescence, can 
attain a white heat, fight vigorously against the liquid 
element, and turn it to vapour by contact. 

Rapid currents bearing all these gases in diffusion, 
and torrents of lava, slid to the bottom of the mountain 
like an eruption of Vesuvius on another Torre del 
Greco. 

There, indeed, under my eyes, ruined, destroyed, lay 
a town, — its roofs open to the sky, its temples fallen, 
its arches dislocated, its columns lying on the ground, 
from which one could still recognise the massive char- 
acter of Tuscan architecture. Further on, some re- 
mains of a gigantic aqueduct; here the high base of 
an Acropolis, with the floating outline of a Parthe- 
non; there traces of a quay, as if an ancient port 
had formerly abutted on the borders of the ocean, 
and disappeared with its merchant vessels and its 
war-galleys. Further on again, long lines of sunken 
walls and broad deserted streets — a perfect Pompeii 
escaped beneath the waters. Such was the sight that 
Captain Nemo brought before my eyes ! 

Where was I? Where was I? I must know, at 
any cost. I tried to speak, but Captain Nemo stopped 
me by a gesture, and picking up a piece of chalk 
stone, advance to a rock of black basalt, and traced 
the one word 

ATLANTIS. 

What a light shot through my mind ! Atlantis, the 
ancient Meropis of Theopompus, the Atlantis of Plato, 


UNDER THE SEA 


295 


that continent denied by Origen, Jamblichus, D’An- 
ville, Malte-Brun, and Humbolt, who placed its dis- 
appearance amongst the legendary tales admitted by 
Posidonius, Pliny, Ammianus, Marcellinus, Tertullian, 
Engel, Buffon, and D’Avezac. I had it there now be- 
fore my eyes, bearing upon it the unexceptionable 
testimony of its catastrophe. The region thus en- 
gulphed was beyond Europe, Asia, and Libya, beyond 
the columns of Hercules, where those powerful people, 
the Atlantides, lived, against whom the first wars of 
ancient Greece were waged. 

Thus, led by the strangest destiny, I was treading 
under foot the mountains of this continent, touching 
with my hand those ruins a thousand generations old, 
and contemporary with the geological epochs. I was 
walking on the very spot where the contemporaries 
of the first man had walked. 

Whilst I was trying to fix in my mind every detail 
of this grand landscape, Captain Nemo remained 
motionless, as if petrified in mute ecstasy, leaning on 
a mossy stone. Was he dreaming of those genera- 
tions long since disappeared? Was he asking them 
the secret of human destiny? Was it here this strange 
man came to steep himself in historical recollections, 
and live again this ancient life, — he who wanted no 
modern one? What would I not have given to know 
his thoughts, to share them, to understand them ! We 
remained for an hour at this place, contemplating the 
vast plain under the brightness of the lava, which was 
sometimes wonderfully intense. Rapid tremblings 
ran along the mountains caused by internal bubblings, 
deep noises distinctly transmitted through the liquid 
medium were echoed with majestic grandeur. At this 


296 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


moment the moon appeared through the mass of 
waters, and threw her pale rays on the buried conti- 
nent. It was but a gleam, but what an indescribable 
effect! The Captain rose, cast one last look on the 
immense plain, and then bade me follow him. 

We descended the mountain rapidly, and the mineral 
forest once passed, I saw the lantern of the Nautilus 
shining like a star. The Captain walked straight to 
it, and we got on board as the first rays of light 
whitened the surface of the ocean. 


CHAPTER X 


THE SUBMARINE COAL-MINES 

The next day, the 20th of February, I awoke very 
late : the fatigues of the previous night had prolonged 
my sleep until eleven o’clock. I dressed quickly, and 
hastened to find the course the Nautilus was taking. 
The instruments showed it to be still towards the 
south, with a speed of twenty miles an hour, and a 
depth of fifty fathoms. 

The species of fishes here did not diifer much from 
those already noticed. There were rays of giant size, 
five yards long, and endowed with great muscular 
strength, which enabled them to shoot above the 
waves ; sharks of many kinds, amongst others, a 
glaucus of fifteen feet long, with triangular sharp 
teeth, and whose transparency rendered it almost in- 
visible in the water; brown sagræ; humantins, prism- 
shaped, and clad with a tuberculous hide; sturgeons, 
resembling their congeners of the Mediterranean ; 
trumpet syngnathes, a foot and a half long, furnished 
with greyish bladders, without teeth or tongue, and 
as supple as snakes. 

Amongst bony fish, Conseil noticed some blackish 
makairas, about three yards long, armed at the upper 
jaw with a piercing sword; other bright coloured 
creatures, known in the time of Aristole by the name 
of the sea-dragon, which are dangerous to capture on 


298 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


account of the spikes on their back; also some cory- 
phænes, with brown backs marked with little blue 
stripes, and surrounded with a gold border; some 
beautiful dorades ; and swordfish four-and-twenty 
feet long, swimming in troops, fierce animals, but 
rather herbivorous than carnivorous. 

About four o’clock, the soil, generally composed of 
a thick mud mixed with petrified wood, changed by 
degrees, and it became more stony, and seemed strewn 
with conglomerate and pieces of basalt, with a sprink- 
ling of lava and sulphurous obsidian. I thought that 
a mountainous region was succeeding the long plains ; 
and accordingly, after a few evolutions of the Nautilus, 
I saw the southerly horizon blocked by a high wall 
which seemed to close all exit. Its summit evidently 
passed the level of the ocean. It must be a continent, 
or at least an island, — one of the Canaries, or of the 
Cape Verde Islands. The bearings not being yet taken, 
perhaps designedly I was ignorant of our exact posi- 
tion. In any case, such a wall seemed to me to mark 
the limits of that Atlantis, of which we had in reality 
passed over only the smallest part. 

Much longer should I have remained at the window, 
admiring the beauties of sea and sky, but the panels 
closed. At this moment the Nautilus arrived at the 
side of this high perpendicular wall. What it would 
do, I could not guess. I returned to my room; it no 
longer moved. I laid myself down with the full in- 
tention of waking after a few hours’ sleep ; but it was 
eight o’clock the next day when I entered the saloon. 
I looked at the manometer. It told me that the 
Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean. 
Besides, I heard steps on the platform. I went to the 


The Nautilus was floating near a mountain. 





J 




UNDER THE SEA 


299 


panel. It was open; but, instead of broad daylight, 
as I expected, I was surrounded by profound darkness. 
Where were we? Was I mistaken? Was it still 
night? No; not a star was shining, and night has 
not that utter darkness. 

I knew not what to think, when a voice near me 
said — 

“ Is that you. Professor?’’ 

“ Ah ! Captain,” I answered, “ where are we ? ” 
Under ground, sir.” 

“ Under ground !” I exclaimed, “ And the Nautilus 
floating still ? ” 

It always floats.” 

“ But I do not understand.” 

“ Wait a few minutes, our lantern will be lit, and if 
you like light places, you will be satisfied.” 

I stood on the platform and waited. The darkness 
was so complete that I could not even see Captain 
Nemo; but looking to the zenith, exactly above my 
head, I seemed to catch an undecided gleam, a kind of 
twilight filling a circular hole. At this instant the 
lantern was lit, and its vividness dispelled the faint 
light. I closed my dazzled eyes for an instant, and 
then looked again. The Nautilus was stationary, 
floating near a mountain which formed a sort of quay. 
The lake then supporting it was a lake imprisoned 
by a circle of walls, measuring two miles in diameter, 
and six in circumference. Its level (the manometer 
showed) could only be the same as the outside level, 
for there must necessarily be a communication between 
the lake and the sea. The high partitions, leaning 
forward on their base, grew into a vaulted roof bear- 
ing the shape of an immense funnel turned upside 


300 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


down, the height being about five or six hundred yards. 
At the summit was a circular orifice, by which I had 
caught the slight gleam of light, evidently dayligl/t. 

“ Where are we ? ” I asked. 

“ In the very heart of an extinct volcano, the interior 
of which has been invaded by the sea, after some great 
convulsion of the earth. Whilst you were sleeping, 
Professor, the Nautilus penetrated to this lagoon by a 
natural canal, which opens about ten yards beneath 
the surface of the ocean. This is its harbour of refuge, 
a sure, commodious, and mysterious one, sheltered 
from all gales. Show me, if you can, on the coasts 
of any of your continents or islands, a road which can 
give such perfect refuge from all storms.” 

“ Certainly,” I replied, “ you are in safety here. Cap- 
tain Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a 
volcano? But did I not see an opening at its sum- 
mit? ” 

“Yes; its crater, formerly filled with lava, vapour, 
and flames, and which now gives entrance to the life- 
giving air we breathe.” 

“ But what is this volcanic mountain ? ” 

“ It belongs to one of the numerous islands with 
which this sea is strewn, — to vessels a simple sand- 
bank, — to us an immense cavern. Chance led me to 
discover it, and chance served me well.” 

“ But of what use is this refuge. Captain ? The 
Nautilus wants no port.” 

“ No, sir ; but it wants electricity to make it move, 
and the wherewithal to make the electricity — sodium 
to feed the elements, coal from which to get the sodium, 
and a coal-mine to supply the coal. And exactly on 
this spot the sea covers entire forests embedded during 


UNDER THE SEA 


301 


the geological periods, now mineralised, and trans- 
formed into coal; for me they are an inexhaustible 
mine.” 

Your men follow the trade of miners here, then, 
Captain ? ” 

“ Exactly so. These mines extend under the waves 
like the mines of Newcastle. Here, in their diving 
dresses, pick-axe and shovel in hand, my men extract 
the coal, which I do not even ask from the mines of the 
earth. When I burn this combustible for the manu- 
facture of sodium, the smoke, escaping from the crater 
of the mountain, gives it the appearance of a still 
active volcano.” 

‘‘ And we shall see your companions at work ? ” 

“ No ; not this time at least ; for I am in a hurry to 
continue our submarine tour of the earth. So I shall 
content myself with drawing from the reserve of 
sodium I already possess. The time for loading is 
one day only, and we continue our voyage. So if 
you wish to go over the cavern, and make the round 
of the lagoon, you must take advantage of to-day, M. 
Aronnax.” 

I thanked the Captain, and went to look for my 
companions, who had not yet left their cabin. I in- 
vited them to follow me without saying where we 
were. They mounted the platform. Conseil, who 
was astonished at nothing, seemed to look upon it as 
quite natural that he should wake under a mountain, 
after having fallen asleep under the waves. But Ned 
Land thought of nothing but finding whether the 
cavern had any exit. After breakfast, about ten 
o’clock, we went down on to the mountain. 

“ Here we are, once more on land,” said Conseil 


302 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Î do not call this land,” said the Canadian. “ And 
besides, we are not on it, but beneath it.” 

Between the walls of the mountain and the waters 
of the lake lay a sandy shore, which, at its greatest 
breadth, measured five hundred feet. On this soil 
one might easily make the tour of the lake. But the 
base of the high partitions was stony ground, with 
volcanic blocks and enormous pumice stones lying in 
picturesque heaps. All these detached masses, 
covered with enamel, polished by the action of the 
subterraneous fires, shone resplendent by the light of 
our electric lantern. The mica dust from the shore, 
rising under our feet, flew like a cloud of sparks. The 
bottom now rose sensibly, and we soon arrived at long 
circuitous slopes, or inclined planes, which took us 
higher by degrees ; but we were obliged to walk care- 
fully among these conglomerates, bound by no cement, 
the feet slipping on the glassy trachyte, composed of 
crystal, felspar, and quartz. 

The volcanic nature of this enormous excavation 
was confirmed on all sides, and I pointed it out to 
my companions. ' 

“ Picture to yourselves,” said I, what this crater 
must have been when filled with boiling lava, and when 
the level of the incandescent liquid rose to the orifice 
of the mountain, as though melted on the top of a hot 
plate.” 

‘‘ I can picture it perfe?ctly,” said Conseil. “ But, 
sir, will you tell me why the Great Architect has 
suspended operations, and how it is that the furnace 
is replaced by the quiet waters of the lake ? ” 

‘ Most probably. Conseil, because some convulsion 
beneath the ocean produced that very opening which 


UNDER THE SEA 


303 


has served as a passage for the Nautilus, Then the 
waters of the Atlantic rushed into the interior of the 
mountain. There must have been a terrible struggle 
between the two elements, a struggle which ended in 
the victory of Neptune. But many ages have run 
out since then, and the submerged volcano is now a 
peaceable grotto.” 

Very well,” replied Ned Land; “I accept the ex- 
planation, sir; but, in our own interests, I regret that 
the opening of which you speak was not made above 
the level of the sea.” 

“ But, friend Ned,” said Conseil, “ if the passage 
had not been under the sea, the Nautilus could not 
have gone through it.” 

We continued ascending. The steps became more 
and more perpendicular and narrow. Deep excava- 
tions, which we were obliged to cross, cut them here 
and there; sloping masses had to be turned. Wç; 
slid upon our knees and crawled along. But Con- 
seil’s dexterity and the Canadian’s strength sur- 
mounted all obstacles. At a height of about thirty- 
one feet, the nature of the ground changed without 
becoming more practicable. To the conglomerate and 
trachyte succeeded black basalt, the first dispread in 
layers full of bubbles, the latter forming regular 
prisms, placed like a colonnade supporting the spring 
of the immense vault, an admirable specimen of natural 
architecture. Between the blocks of basalt wound 
long streams of lava, long since grown cold, encrusted 
with bituminous rays; and in some places there were 
spread large carpets of sulphur. A more powerful 
light shone through the upper crater, shedding a vague 
glimmer over these volcanic depressions for ever 


304 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


buried in the bosom of this extinguished mountain. 
But our upward march was soon stopped at a height 
of about two hundred and fifty feet by impassable 
obstacles. There was a complete vaulted arch over- 
hanging us, and our ascent was changed to a circular 
walk. At the last change vegetable life began to 
struggle with the mineral. Some shrubs, and even 
some trees, grew from the fractures of the walls. I 
recognised some euphorbias, with the caustic sugar 
coming from them ; heliotropes, quite incapable of 
justifying their name, sadly drooped their clusters 
of flowers, both their colour and perfume half gone. 
Here and there some chrysanthemums grew timidly 
at the foot of an aloe with long sickly-looking leaves. 
But between the streams of lava, I saw some little 
violets still slightly perfumed, and I admit that I smelt 
them with delight. Perfume is the soul of the flower, 
and sea-flowers, those splendid hydrophytes, have no 
soul. 

We had arrived at the foot of some sturdy dragon 
trees, which had pushed aside the rocks with their 
strong rooft, when Ned Land exclaimed — 

“ Ah ! sir, a hive ! a hive ! ” 

‘‘ A hive ! ” I replied, with a gesture of incredulity. 

Yes, a hive,” repeated the Canadian, “ and bees 
humming round it.” 

I approached, and was bound to believe my own 
eyes. There, at a hole bored in one of the dragon- 
trees, were some thousands of these ingenious insects, 
so common in all the Canaries, and whose produce 
is so much esteemed. Naturally enough, the Canadian 
wished to gather the honey, and I could not well 
oppose his wish. A quantity of dry leaves, mixed 


UNDER THE SEA 


305 


with sulphur, he lit with a spark from his flint, and he 
began to smoke out the bees. The humming ceased 
by degrees, and the hive eventually yielded several 
pounds of the sweetest honey, with which Ned Land 
filled his haversack. 

“ When I have mixed this honey with the paste of 
the artocarpus,” said he, “ I shall be able to offer you 
a succulent cake.” 

“ Upon my word,” said Conseil, it will be ginger- 
bread.” 

‘‘ Never mind the gingerbread,” said I ; ‘‘ let us con- 
tinue our interesting walk.” 

At every turn of the path we were following, the 
lake appeared in all its length and breadth. The lan- 
tern lit up the whole of its peaceable surface which 
knew neither ripple nor wave. The Nautilus re- 
mained perfectly immovable. On the platform, and 
on the mountain, the ship’s crew were working like 
black shadows clearly carved against the luminous 
atmosphere. We were now going round the highest 
crest of the first layers of rock which upheld the 
roof. I then saw that bees were not the't)nly repre- 
sentatives of the animal kingdom in the interior of 
this volcano. Birds of prey hovered here and there in 
the shadows, or fled from their nests on the top of the 
rocks. There were sparrow-hawks with white breasts, 
and kestrels, and down the slopes scampered, with 
their long legs, several fine fat bustards. I leave any 
one to imagine the covetousness of the Canadian at 
the sight of this savoury game, and whether he did 
not regret having no gun. But he did his best to 
replace the lead by stones, and after several fruit- 
less attempts, he succeeded in wounding a magnificent 


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TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


bird. To say that he risked his life twenty times 
before reaching it, is but the truth; but he managed 
so well, that the creature joined the honey cakes in his 
bag. We were now obliged to descend towards the 
shore, the crest becoming impracticable. Above us 
the crater seemed to gape like the mouth of a well. 
From this place the sky could be clearly seen, and 
clouds, dissipated by the west wind, leaving behind 
them, even on the summit of the mountain, their 
misty remnants — certain proof that they were only 
moderately high, for the volcano did not rise more 
than eight hundred feet above the level of the ocean. 
Half an hour after the Canadian’s last exploit we had 
regained the inner shore. Here the flora was repre- 
sented by large carpets of marine crystal, a little um- 
belliferous plant very good to pickle, which also bears 
the name of pierce-stone, and sea-fennel. Conseil 
gathered some bundles of it. As to the fauna, it 
might be counted by thousands of Crustacea of all 
sorts, lobsters, crabs, palæmons, spider crabs, chamel- 
eon shrimps, and a large number of shells, rockfish 
and limpets.' Three quarters of an hour later, we had 
finished our circuitous walk, and were on board. The 
crew had just finished loading the sodium, and the 
Nautihis could have left that instant. But Captain. 
Nemo gave no order. Did he wish to wait until night, 
and leave the submarine passage secretly? Perhaps 
so. Whatever it might be, the next day, the Nautilus, 
having left its port, steered clear of all land at a few 
yards beneath the waves of the Atlantic. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE SARGASSO SEA 

That day the Nautilus crossed a singular part of the 
Atlantic Ocean. No one can be ignorant of the exist- 
ence of a current of warm water, known by the name 
of the Gulf Stream. After leaving the Gulf of Flor- 
ida, we went in the direction of Spitzbergen. But 
before entering the Gulf of Mexico, about the forty- 
fifth degree of north latitude, this current divides 
into two arms, the principal one going towards the 
coast of Ireland and Norway, whilst the second bends 
to the south about the height of the Azores; then, 
touching the African shore, and describing a 
lengthened oval, returns to the Antilles. This second 
arm — it is rather a collar than an arm — surrounds with 
its circles of warm water that portion of the cold, 
quiet, immovable ocean called the Sargasso Sea, a 
perfect lake in the open Atlantic : it takes no less than 
three years for the great current to pass round it. 
Such was the region the Nautilus was now visiting, 
a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, fucus, 
and tropical berries, so thick and so compact, that the 
stem of a vessel could hardly tear its way through it. 
And Captain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw 
in this herbaceous mass, kept some yards beneath the 
surface of the waves. The name Sargasso comes from 
the Spanish word “ sargazzo,” which signifies kelp. 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


This kelp or varech, or berry-plant, is the principal 
formation of this immense bank. And this is the 
reason, according to the learned Maury, the author 
of The Physical Geography of the Globe,” why 
these hydrophytes unite in the peaceful basin of the 
Atlantic. The only explanation which can be given, 
he says, seems to me to result from the experience 
known to all the world. Place in a vase some frag- 
ments of cork or other floating body, and give to the 
water in the vase a circular movement, the scattered 
fragments will unite in a group in the centre of the 
liquid surface, that is to say, in the part least agitated. 
In the phenomenon we are considering, the Atlantic 
is the vase, the Gulf Stream the circular current, and 
the Sargasso Sea the central point at which the float- 
ing bodies unite. 

I share Maury’s opinion, and I was able to study the 
phenomenon in the very midst, where vessels rarely 
penetrate. Above us floated products of all kinds, 
heaped up among these brownish plants; trunks of 
trees torn from the Andes or the Rocky Mountains, 
and floated by the Amazon or the Mississippi ; numer- 
ous wrecks, remains of keels, or ships’ bottoms, side 
planks stove in, and so weighted with shells and 
barnacles that they could not again rise to the sur- 
face. And time will one day justify Maury’s other 
opinion, that these substances, thus accumulated for 
ages, will become petrified by the action of the water, 
and will then form inexhaustible coal-mines — a. 
precious reserve prepared by far-seeing Nature for 
the moment when men shall have exhausted the mines 
of continents. 

In the midst of this inextricable mass of plants and 


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309 


seaweed, I noticed some charming pink halcyons and 
actiniae, with their long tentacles trailing after them ; 
medusae, green, red, and blue, and the great rhyostoms 
of Cuvier, the large umbrella of which was bordered 
and festooned with violet. 

All the day of the 226. of February we passed in the 
Sargasso Sea, where such fish as are partial to marine 
plants and fuci find abundant nourishment. The 
next, the ocean had returned to its accustomed aspect. 
From this time for nineteen days, from the 23d of 
February to the 12th of March, the Nautilus kept in 
the middle of the Atlantic, carrying us at a constant 
speed of a hundred leagues in twenty-four hours. 
Captain Nemo evidently intended accomplishing his 
submarine programme, and I imagined that he in- 
tended, after doubling Cape Horn, to return to the 
Australian seas of the Pacific. Ned Land had cause 
for fear. In these large seas, void of islands, we 
could not attempt to leave the boat. Nor had we any 
means of opposing Captain Nemo’s will. Our only 
course was to submit ; but what we could neither gain 
by force nor cunning, I liked to think might be 
obtained by persuasion. This voyage ended, would 
he not consent to restore our liberty, under an oath 
never to reveal his existence? — an oath of honour 
which we should have religiously kept. But we must 
consider that delicate question with the Captain. But 
was I free to claim this liberty? Had he not him- 
self said from the beginning, in the firmest manner, 
that the secret of his life exacted from him our last- 
ing imprisonment on board the Nautilus? And would 
not my four months’ silence appear to him a tacit 
acceptance of our situation? And would not a return 


310 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


to the subject result in raising suspicions which might 
be hurtful to our projects, if at some future time a 
favourable opportunity offered to return to them? 

During the nineteen days mentioned above, no inci- 
dent of any note happened to signalise our voyage. 
I saw little of the Captain; he was at work. In the 
library I often found his books left open, especially 
those on Natural History. My work on submarine 
depths, conned over by him, was covered with mar- 
ginal notes, often contradicting my theories and sys- 
tems; but the Captain contented himself with thus 
purging my work ; it was very rare for him to discuss 
it with me. Sometimes I heard the melancholy tones 
of his organ; but only at night, in the midst of the 
deepest obscurity, when the Nautilus slept upon the 
deserted ocean. During this part of our voyage we 
sailed whole days on the surface of the waves. The 
sea seemed abandoned. A few sailing-vessels, on the 
road to India, were making for the Cape of Good 
Hope. One day we were followed by the boats of 
a whaler, who, no doubt, took us for some enormous 
whale of great price ; but Captain Nemo did not wish 
the worthy fellows to lose their time and trouble, so 
ended the chase by plunging under the water. Our 
navigation continued until the 13th of March; that 
day the Nautilus was employed in taking soundings, 
which greatly interested me. We had then made about 
13,000 leagues since our departure from the high seas 
of the Pacific. The bearings gave us 45° 37' south 
latitude, and 37° 53' west longitude. It was the same 
water in which Captain Denham of the Herald sounded 
7000 fathoms without finding the bottom. There, too. 
Lieutenant Parker, of the American frigate Congress, 


UNDER THE SEA 


311 


could not touch the bottom with 15,140 fathoms. Cap- 
tain Nemo intended seeking the bottom of the ocean 
by a diagonal sufficiently lengthened by means of lateral 
planes placed at an angle of forty-five degrees with the 
water-line of the Nautilus. Then the screw set to work 
at its maximum speed, its four blades beating the 
waves with indescribable force. Under this powerful 
pressure the hull of the Nautilus quivered like a sono- 
rous chord, and sank regularly under the water. 

At 7000 fathoms I saw some blackish tops rising 
from the midst of the waters ; but these summits might 
belong to high mountains like the Himalayas or Mount 
Blanc, even higher; and the depth of the abyss re- 
mained incalculable. The Nautilus descended still 
lower, in spite of the great pressure. I felt the steel 
plates tremble at the fastenings of the bolts; its bars 
bent, its partitions groaned ; the windows of the saloon 
seemed to curve under the pressure of the waters. 
And this firm structure would doubtless have yielded, 
if, as its Captain had said, it had not been capable of 
resistance like a solid block. In skirting the declivity 
of these rocks, lost under water, I still saw some shells, 
some serpulæ and spinorbes, still living, and some 
specimens of asteriads. But soon this last representa- 
tive of animal life disappeared; and at the depth of 
more than three leagues, the Nautilus had passed the 
limits of submarine existence, even as a balloon does 
when it rises above the respirable atmosphere. We 
had attained a depth of 16,000 yards (four leagues), 
and the sides of the Nautilus then bore a pressure of 
1600 atmospheres, that is to say, 3200 pounds to each 
square two-fifths of an inch of its surface. 

“ What a situation to be in ! ’' I exclaimed. “ To 


312 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


overrun these deep regions where man has never trod Î 
Look, Captain, look at these magnificent rocks, these 
uninhabited grottoes, these lowest receptacles of the 
globe, where life is no longer possible ! What unknown 
sights are here ! Why should we be unable to preserve 
a remembrance of them?’' 

“ Would you like to carry away more than the re- 
membrance?” said Captain Nemo. 

“ What do you mean by those words ? ” 

“ I mean to say that nothing is easier than to take 
a photographic view of this submarine region.” 

I had not time to express my surprise at this new 
proposition, when, at Captain Nemo’s call, an objective 
was brought into the saloon. Through the widely 
opened panel, the liquid mass was bright with elec- 
tricity, which was distributed with such uniformity, 
that not a shadow, not a gradation, was to be seen in 
our manufactured light. The Nautilus remained mo- 
tionless, the force of its screw subdued by the inclina- 
tion of its planes: the instrument was propped on the 
bottom of the oceanic site, and in a few seconds we 
had obtained a perfect negative. I here give the posi- 
tive, from which may be seen those primitive rocks, 
which have never looked upon the light of heaven ; that 
lowest granite which forms the foundatiot' of the 
globe; those deep grottoes, woven in the stony mass 
whose outlines were of such sharpness, and the border 
lines of which is marked in black, as if done by the 
brush of some Flemish artist. Beyond that again a 
horizon of mountains, an admirable undulating line, 
forming the prospective of the landscape. I cannot 
describe the effect of these smooth, black, polished 
rocks, without moss, without a spot, and of strange 


UNDER THE ^ SEA 


313 


forms, standing solidly on the sandy carpet, which 
sparkled under the jets of our electric light. 

But the operation being over. Captain Nemo said, 
“ Let us go up ; we must not abuse our position, nor 
expose the Nautilus too long to such great pressure.” 

“ Go up again ! ” I exclaimed. 

“ Hold well on.” 

I had not time to understand why the Captain cau- 
tioned me thus, when I was thrown forward on to the 
icarpet. At a signal from the Captain, its screw was 
shipped, and its blades raised vertically; the Nautilus 
shot into the air like a balloon, rising with stunning 
rapidity, and cutting the mass of waters with a sono- 
rous agitation. Nothing was visible; and in four 
minutes it had shot through the four leagues which 
separated it from the ocean, and after emerging like 
a flying-fish, fell, making the waves rebound to an 
enormous height. 


CHAPTER XII 


CACHALOTS AND WHALES 

During the nights of the 13th and 14th of March, the 
Nautilus returned to its southerly course. I fancied 
that, when on a level with Cape Horn, he would turn 
the helm westward, in order to beat the Pacific seas, 
and so complete the tour of the world. He did nothing 
of the kind, but continued on his way to the southern 
regions. Where was he going? To the pole? It was 
madness ! I began to think that the Captain’s temerity 
justified Ned Land’s fears. For some time past the 
Canadian had not spoken to me of his projects of flight ; 
he was less communicative, almost silent. I could see 
that this lengthened imprisonment was weighing upon 
him, and I felt that rage was burning within him. 
When he met the Captain, his eyes lit up with sup- 
pressed anger; and I feared that his natural violence 
would lead him into some extreme. That day, the 14th 
of March, Conseil and he came to me in my room. I 
inquired the cause of their visit. 

“ A simple question to ask you, sir,” replied the 
Canadian. 

“ Speak, Ned.” 

“ How many men are there on board the Nautilus, 
do you think? ” 

‘‘ I cannot tell, my friend.” 


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315 


I should say that its working does not require a 
large crew.” 

“ Certainly, under existing conditions, ten men, at 
the most, ought to be enough.” 

‘‘ Well, why should there be any more? ” 

‘‘Why?” I replied, looking fixedly at Ned Land, 
whose meaning was easy to guess. “ Because,” I 
added, “ if my surmises are correct, and if I have well 
understood the Captain's existence, the Nautilus is not 
only a vessel : it is also a place of refuge for those who, 
like its commander, have broken every tie upon earth.” 

“ Perhaps so,” said Conseil ; “ but, in any case, the 
Nautilus can only contain a certain number of men. 
Could not you, sir, estimate their maximum ? ” 

“ How, Conseil?” 

“ By calculation ; given the size of the vessel, which 
you know, sir, and consequently the quantity of air it 
contains, knowing also how much each man expands 
at a breath, and comparing these results with the fact 
that the Nautilus is obliged to go to the surface every 
twenty-four hours.” 

Conseil had not finished the sentence before I saw 
what he was driving at. 

“ I understand,” said I ; “ but that calculation, though 
simple enough, can give but a very uncertain result.” 

“ Never mind,” said Ned Land, urgently. 

“ Here it is, then,” said 1 . “ In one hour each man 
consumes the oxygen contained in twenty gallons of 
air ; and in twenty-four, that contained in 480 gallons. 
We must, therefore, find how many times 480 gallons 
of air the Nautilus contains.” 

“Just so,” said Conseil. 

“ Or,” I continued, “ the size of the Nautilus being 


3i6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


1500 tons ; and one ton holding 200 gallons, it contains 
300,000 gallons of air, which, divided by 480, gives a 
quotient of 625. Which means to say, strictly speak- 
ing, that the air contained in the Nautilus would suffice 
for 625 men for twenty-four hours.’^ 

Six hundred and twenty-five ! ” repeated Ned. 

But remember, that all of us, passengers, sailors, 
and officers included, would not form a tenth part of 
that number/’ 

“ Still too many for three men,” murmured Conseil. 

The Canadian shook his head, passed his hand across 
his forehead, and left the room without answering. 

Will you allow me to make one observation, sir? ” 
said Conseil. “ Poor Ned is longing for everything 
that he can’t have. His past life is always present to 
him ; everything that we are forbidden he regrets. His 
head is full of old recollections. And we must under- 
stand him. What has he to do here? Nothing; he is 
not learned like you, sir; and has not the same taste 
for the beauties of the sea that we have. He would 
risk everything to be able to go once more into a 
tavern in his own country.” 

Certainly the monotony on board must seem intol- 
erable to the Canadian, accustomed as he was to a 
life of liberty and activity. Events were rare which 
could rouse him to any show of spirit ; but that day an 
event did happen which recalled the bright days of the 
harpooner. About eleven in the morning, being on 
the surface of the ocean, the Nautilus fell in with a 
troop of whales — an encounter which did not astonish 
me, knowing that these creatures, hunted to the death, 
had taken refuge in high latitudes. 

We were seated on the platform, with a quiet sea. 


UNDER THE SEA 


317 


The month of October in those latitudes gave us some 
lovely autumnal days. It was the Canadian — ^he could 
not be mistaken — who signalled a whale on the eastern 
horizon. Looking attentively one might see its black 
back rise and fall with the waves five miles from the 
Nautilus. 

‘‘ Ah ! ” exclaimed Ned Land, “ if I were on board 
a whaler now, such a meeting would give me pleasure. 
It is one of large size. See with what strength its 
blow-holes throw up columns of air and steam ! Con- 
found it, why am I bound to these steel plates ? 

“ What, Ned,'’ said I, “ you have not forgotten your 
old ideas of fishing?” 

Can a whale-fisher ever forget his old trade, sir ? 
Can he ever tire of the emotions caused by such a 
chase ? ” 

“You have never fished in these seas, Ned?” 

“ Never, sir ; in the northern only, and as much in 
Behring as in Davis Straits.” 

“ Then the southern whale is still unknown to you. 
It is the Greenland whale you have hunted up to this 
time, and that would not risk passing through the 
warm waters of the equator. Whales are localised, 
according to their kinds, in certain seas which they 
never leave. And if one of these creatures went from 
Behring to Davis Straits, it must be simply because 
there is a passage from one sea to the other, either on 
the American or the Asiatic side.” 

“ In that case, as I have never fished in these seas, 
I do not know the kind of whale frequenting them.” 

“ I have told you, Ned.” 

“ A greater reason for making their acquaintance,” 
said Conseil. 


3i8 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


'' Look ! look ! ” exclaimed the Canadian, they ap- 
proach; they aggravate me; they know that I cannot 
get at them ! '' 

Ned stamped his feet. His hand trembled, as he 
grasped an imaginary harpoon. 

‘‘ Are these cetacea as large as those of the northern 
seas ? ” asked he. 

Very nearly, Ned.” 

Because I have seen large whales, sir, whales 
measuring a hundred feet. I have even been told that 
those of Hullamoch and Umgallick, of the Aleutian 
Islands, are sometimes a hundred and fifty feet long.” 

“ That seems to me exaggeration. These creatures 
are only balænopterons, provided with dorsal fins ; and, 
like the cachalots, are generally much smaller than the 
Greenland whale.” 

“ Ah ! ” exclaimed the Canadian, whose eyes had 
never left the ocean, “they are coming nearer; they 
are in the same water as the Nautilus!” 

Then returning to the conversation, he said — 

“ You spoke of the cachalot as a small creature. I 
have heard of gigantic ones. They are intelligent 
Cetacea. It is said of some that they cover themselves 
with seaweed and fucus, and then are taken for islands. 
People encamp upon them, and settle there; light a 
fire ” 

“ And build houses,” said Conseil. 

“ Yes, joker,” said Ned Land. “ And one fine day 
the creature plunges, carrying with it all the inhabi- 
tants to the bottom of the sea.” 

“ Something like the travels of Sinbad the Sailor,” 
I replied, laughing. 

“ Ah ! ” suddenly exclaimed Ned Land, “ it is not 


UNDER THE SEA 


319 


one whale; there are ten, — there are twenty,-— it is a 
whole troop ! And I not able to do anything ! hands 
and feet tied ! ” 

“ But, friend Ned,” said Conseil, “ why do you not 
ask Captain Nemo’s permission to chase them? ” 

Conseil had not finished his sentence when Ned 
Land had lowered himself through the panel to seek 
the Captain. A few minutes afterwards the two 
appeared together on the platform. 

Captain Nemo watched the troop of cetacea playing 
on the waters about a mile from the Nautilus. 

“ They are southern whales,” said he ; “ there goes 
the fortune of a whole fleet of whalers.” 

‘‘ Well, sir,” asked the Canadian, “ can I not chase 
them, if only to remind me of my old trade of 
harpooner ? ” 

“And to what purpose?” replied Captain Nemo; 
“ only to destroy ! We have nothing to do with whale- 
oil on board.” 

“ But, sir,” continued the Canadian, “ in the Red 
Sea you allowed us to follow the dugong.” 

“ Then it was to procure fresh meat for my crew. 
Here it would be killing for killing’s sake. I know that 
is a privilege reserved for man, but I do not approve 
of such murderous pastime. In destroying the south- 
ern whale (like the Greenland whale, an inoffensive 
creature), your traders do a culpable action. Master 
Land. They have already depopulated the whole of 
Baffin’s Bay, and are annihilating a class of useful 
animals. Leave the unfortunate cetacea alone. They 
have plenty of natural enemies, cachalots, swordfish, 
and sawfish, without your troubling them.” 

The Captain was right. The barbarous and in con- 


320 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


siderate greed of these fishermen will one day cause 
the disappearance of the last whale in the ocean. Ned 
Land whistled “ Yankee-doodle ” between his teeth, 
thrust his hands into his pockets, and turned his back 
upon us. But Captain Nemo watched the troop of 
cetacea, and addressing me, said — 

“ I was right in saying that whales had natural 
enemies enough, without counting man. These will 
have plenty to do before long. Do you see, M. Aron- 
nax, about eight miles to leeward, those blackish 
moving points ? ” 

Yes, Captain,” I replied. 

‘‘ Those are cachalots, — terrible animals, which I 
have sometimes met in troops of two or three hundred. 
As to those, they are cruel, mischievous creatures; 
they would be right in exterminating them.” 

The Canadian turned quickly at the last words. 

“ Well, Captain,” said he, “ it is still time, in the 
interest of the whales.” 

“ It is useless to expose one’s self. Professor. The 
Nautilus will disperse them. It is armed with a steel 
spur as good as Master Land’s harpoon, I imagine.” 

The Canadian did not put himself out enough to 
shrug his shoulders. Attack cetacea with blows of a 
spur! Who had ever heard of such a thing? 

‘‘ Wait, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo. “ We 
will show you something you have never yet seen. We 
have no pity for these ferocious creatures. They are 
^ nothing but mouth and teeth.” 

Mouth and teeth ! No one could better describe the 
macrocephalous cachalot, which is sometimes more 
than seventy-five feet long. Its enormous head occu- 
pies one-third of its entire body. Better armed than 


UNDER THE SEA 


321 


the whale, whose upper jaw is furnished only with 
whale bone, it is supplied with twenty-five large tusks, 
about eight inches long, cylindrical and conical at the 
top, each weighing two pounds. It is in the upper 
part of this enormous head, in great cavities divided 
by cartileges, that is to be found from six to eight 
hundred pounds of that precious oil called spermaceti. 
The cachalot is a disagreeable creature, more tadpole 
than fish, according to Fredol’s description. It is 
badly formed, the whole of its left side being (if we 
may say it) a “ failure,’’ and being only able to see 
with its right eye. But the formidable troop was near- 
ing us. They had seen the whales and were preparing 
to attack them. One could judge beforehand that the 
cachalots would be victorious, not only because they 
were better built for attack than their inoffensive ad- 
versaries, but also because they could remain longer 
under water without coming to the surface. There 
was only just time to go to the help of the whales. The 
Nautilus went under water. Conseil, Ned Land, and 
I took our places before the window in the saloon, and 
Captain Nemo joined the pilot in his cage to work his 
apparatus as an engine of destruction. Soon I felt the 
beatings of the screw quicken, and our speed increased. 
The battle between the cachalots and the whales had 
already begun when the Nautilus arrived. They did 
not at first show any fear at the sight of this new 
monster joining in the conflict. But they soon had to 
guard against its blows. What a battle ! The Nauti- 
lus was nothing but a formidable harpoon, brandished 
by the hand of its captain. It hurled itself against the 
fleshy mass, passing through from one part to the 
other, leaving behind it two quivering halves of the 


322 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


animal. It could not feel the formidable blows from 
their tails upon its sides, nor the shock which it pro- 
duced itself, much more. One cachalot killed, it ran 
at the next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss 
its prey, going forwards and backwards, answering 
to its helm, plunging when the cetacean dived into the 
deep waters, coming up with it when it returned to the 
surface, striking it front or sideways, cutting or tearing 
in all directions, and at any pace, piercing it with its 
terrible spur. What carnage! What a noise on the 
surface of the waves! What sharp hissing, and what 
snorting peculiar to these enraged animals. In the 
midst of these waters, generally so peaceful, their tails 
made perfect billows. For one hour this wholesale 
massacre continued, from which the cachalots could 
not escape. Several times ten or twelve united tried 
to crush the Nautilus by their weight. From the win- 
dow we could see their enormous mouths studded with 
tusks, and their formidable eyes. Ned Land could 
not contain himself, he threatened and swore at them. 
We could feel them clinging to our vessel like dogs 
worrying a wild boar in a copse. But the Nautilus, 
working its screw, carried them here and there, or to 
the upper levels of the ocean, without caring for their 
enormous weight, nor the powerful strain on the vessel. 
At length, the mass of cachalots broke up, the waves 
became quiet, and I felt that we were rising to the 
surface. The panel opened, and we hurried on to the 
platform. The s^ was covered with mutilated bodies. 
A formidable explosion could not have divided and 
torn this fleshy mass with more violence. We were 
floating amid gigantic bodies, bluish on the back and 
white underneath, covered with enormous protuber- 


UNDER THE SEA 


323 


ances. Some terrified cachalots were flying towards 
the horizon. The waves were dyed red for several 
miles, and the Nautilus floated in a sea of blood. Cap- 
tain Nemo joined us. 

“Well, Master Land?’' said he. 

“ Well, sir,” replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm 
had somewhat calmed ; “ it is a terrible spectacle, cer- 
tainly. But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter, and 
I call this a butchery.” 

“ It is a massacre of mischievous creatures,” replied 
the Captain ; and the Nautilus is not a butcher’s knife.” 

“ I like my harpoon better,” said the Canadian. 

“ Every one to his own,” answered the Captain, 
looking fixedly at Ned Land. 

I feared he would commit some act of violence, 
which would end in sad consequences. But his anger 
was turned by the sight of a whale which the Nautilus 
had just come up with. The creature had not quite 
escaped from the cachalot’s teeth. I recognised the 
southern whale by its flat head, which is entirely black. 
Anatomically, it is distinguished from the white whale 
and the North Cape whale by the seven cervical verte- 
brae, and it has two more ribs than its congeners. The 
unfortunate cetacean was lying on its side, riddled with 
holes from the bites, and quite dead. From its muti- 
lated fin still hung a young whale which it could not 
save from the massacre. Its open mouth let the water 
flow in and out, murmuring like the waves breaking 
on the shore. Captain Nemo steered close to the corpse 
of the creature. Two of his men mounted its side, 
and I saw, not without surprise, that they were draw- 
ing from its breasts all the milk which they contained, 
that is to say, about two or three tons. The Captain 


324 


TWENTY THOUSAND ilEAGUES 


offered me a cup of the milk, which was still warm. I 
could not help showing my repugnance to the drink; 
but he assured me that it was excellent, and not to be 
distinguished from cow’s milk. I tasted it, and was 
of his opinion. It was a useful reserve to us, for in 
the shape of salt butter or cheese it would form an 
agreeable variety from our ordinary food. From that 
day I noticed with uneasiness that Ned Land’s ill-will 
towards Captain Nemo increased, and I resolved to 
watch the Canadian’s gestures closely. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE ICEBERG 

The Nautilus was steadily pursuing its southerly 
course, following the fiftieth meridian with consider- 
able speed. Did he wish to reach the pole ? I did not 
think so, for every attempt to reach that point had 
hitherto failed. Again the season was far advanced, 
for in the antarctic regions, the 13th of March corre- 
sponds with the 13th of September of northern regions, 
which begin at the equinoctial season. On the 14th of 
March I saw floating ice in latitude 55°, merely pale 
bits of debris from twenty to twenty-five feet long, 
forming banks over which the sea curled. The Nau- 
tilus remained on the surface of the ocean. Ned Land, 
who had fished in the arctic seas, was familiar with its 
icebergs ; but Conseil and I admired them for the first 
time. In the atmosphere towards the southern horizon 
stretched a white dazzling band. English whalers have 
given it the name of “ ice blink.” However thick the 
clouds may be, it is always visible, and announces the 
presence of an ice pack or bank. Accordingly, larger 
blocks soon appeared, whose brilliancy changed with 
the caprices of the fog. Some of these masses showed 
green veins, as if long undulating lines had been 
traced with sulphate of copper ; others resembled enor- 
mous amethysts with the light shining through them. 
Some reflected the light of day upon a thousand crystal 


326 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


facets. Others shaded with vivid calcareous reflections 
resembled a perfect town of marble. The more we 
neared the south, the more these floating islands in- 
creased both in number and importance. 

At the sixtieth degree of latitude, every pass had 
disappeared. But seeking carefully. Captain Nemo 
soon found a narrow opening, through which he boldly 
slipped, knowing, however, that it would close behind 
him. Thus, guided by this clever hand, the Nautilus 
passed through all the ice with a precision which quite 
charmed Conseil; icebergs or mountains, ice-fields or 
smooth plains, seeming to have no limits, drift ice or 
floating ice packs, or plains broken up, called palchs 
when they are circular, and streams when they are 
made up of long strips. The temperature was very 
low; the thermometer exposed to the air marked two 
or three degrees below zero, but we were warmly clad 
with fur, at the expense of the sea-bear and seal. The 
interior of the Nautilus, warmed regularly by its elec- 
tric apparatus, defied the most intense cold. Besides, 
it would only have been necessary to go some yards 
beneath the waves to find a more bearable temperature. 
Two months earlier we should have had perpetual day- 
light in these latitudes ; but already we had three or 
four hours night, and by and by there would be six 
months of darkness in these circumpolar regions. On 
the 15th of March we were in the latitude of New 
Shetland and South Orkney. The Captain told me that 
formerly numerous tribes of seals inhabited them ; but 
that English and American whalers, in their rage for 
destruction, massacred both old and young ; thus where 
there was once life and animation, they had left silence 
and death. 


UNDER THE SEA 


327 


About eight o’clock on the morning of the i6th of 
March, the Nmtilus, following the fifty-fifth meridian, 
cut the antarctic polar circle. Ice surrounded us on 
all sides, and closed the horizon. But Captain Nemo 
went from one opening to another, still going higher. 
I cannot express my astonishment at the beauties of 
these new regions. The ice took most surprising 
forms. Here the grouping formed an oriental town, 
with innumerable mosques and minarets ; there a fallen 
city thrown to the earth, as it were, by some convulsion 
of nature. The whole aspect was constantly changed 
by the oblique rays of the sun, or lost in the greyish 
fog amidst hurricanes of snow. Detonations and falls 
were heard on all sides, great overthrows of icebergs, 
which altered the whole landscape like a diorama. 
Often seeing no exit, I thought we were definitively 
prisoners ; but instinct guiding him at the slightest indi- 
Kration, Captain Nemo would discover a new pass. He 
was never mistaken when he saw the thin threads of 
bluish water trickling along the ice-fields ; and I had 
no doubt that he had already ventured into the midst 
of these antarctic seas before. On the i6th of March, 
however, the ice-fields absolutely blocked our road. 
It was not the iceberg itself, as yet, but vast fields 
cemented by the cold. But this obstacle could not stop 
Captain Nemo : he hurled himself against it with fright- 
ful violence. The Nautilus entered the brittle mass 
like a wedge, and split it with frightful cracklings. It 
was the battering ram of the ancients hurled by infinite 
strength. The ice, thrown high in the air, fell like hail 
around us. By its own power of impulsion our appa- 
ratus made a canal for itself ; sometimes carried away 
by its own impetus it lodged on the ice-field, crushing 


328 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


it with its weight, and sometimes buried beneath it, 
dividing it by a simple pitching movement, producing 
large rents in it. Violent gales assailed us at this time, 
accompanied by thick fogs, through which, from one 
end of the platform to the other, we could see nothing. 
The wind blew sharply from all points of the compass, 
and the snow lay in such hard heaps that we had to 
break it with blows of a pickaxe. The temperature 
was always at five degrees below zero ; every outward 
part of the Nautilus was covered with ice. A rigged 
vessel could never have worked its way there, for all 
the rigging would have been entangled in the'blocked- 
up gorges. A vessel without sails, with electricity for 
its motive power, and wanting no coal, could alone 
brave such high latitudes. At length, on the i8th of 
March, after many useless assaults, the Nautilus was 
positively blocked. It was no longer either strearhs, 
packs, or ice-fields, but an interminable and immovable 
barrier, formed by mountains soldered together. 

“ An iceberg ! ’’ said the Canadian to me. 

I knew that to Ned Land, as well as to all other 
navigators who had preceded us, this was an inevitable 
obstacle. The sun appearing for an instant at noon, 
Captain Nemo took an observation as near as possible, 
which gave our situation at 51° 30' longitude and 67® 
39' of south latitude. We had advanced one degree 
more in this antarctic region. Of the liquid surface of 
the sea there was no longer a glimpse. Under the spur 
of the Nautilus lay stretched a vast plain, entangled 
with confused blocks. Here and there sharp points, 
and slender needles rising to a height of 200 feet; 
further on a steep shore, hewn as it were with an axe, 
and clothed with greyish tints ; huge mirrors reflecting 



The Nautilus was blocked up 



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UNDER THE SEA 


329 


a few rays of sunshine, half drowned in the fog. And 
over this desolate face of Nature a stern silence 
reigned, scarcely broken by the flapping of the wings 
of petrels and pufflns. Everything was frozen — even 
the noise. The Nautilus was then obliged to stop in its 
adventurous course amid these fields of ice. In spite 
of our efforts, in spite of the powerful means employed 
to break up the ice, the Nautilus remained immovable. 
Generally, when we can proceed no further, we have 
return still open to us ; but here return was as impos- 
sible as advance, for every pass had closed behind us ; 
and for the few moments when we were stationary, 
we were likely to be entirely blocked, which did, in- 
deed, happen about two o’clock in the afternoon, the 
fresh ice forming around its sides with astonishing 
rapidity. I was obliged to admit that Captain Nemo 
was more than imprudent. I was on the platform at 
that moment. The Captain had been observing our 
situation for some time past, when he said to me — ■ 

“ Well, sir, what do you think of this ? ” 

“ I think that we are caught. Captain.” 

“ So, M. Aronnax, you really think that the Nautilus 
cannot disengage itself ? ” 

“ With difficulty. Captain ; for the season is already 
too far advanced for you to reckon on the breaking up 
of the ice.” 

“ Ah ! sir,” said Captain Nemo, in an ironical tone, 
“ you will always be the same. You see nothing but 
difficulties and obstacles. I affirm that not only can the 
Nautilus disengage itself, but also that it can go further 
still.” 

“Further to the south?” I asked, looking at the 
Captain. 


330 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Yes, sir; it shall go to the pole.” 

'' To the pole ! ” I exclaimed, unable to repress a 
gesture of incredulity. 

Yes,” replied the Captain, coldly, to the antarctic 
pole, — to that unknown point from whence springs 
every meridian of the globe. You know whether I 
can do as I please with the Nautilus!” 

Yes, I knew that. I knew that this man was bold, 
even to rashness. But to conquer those obstacles 
which bristled round the south pole, rendering it more 
inaccessible than the north, which had not yet been 
reached by the boldest navigators, — was it not a mad 
enterprise, one which only a maniac would have con- 
ceived? It then came into my head to ask Captain 
Nemo if he had ever discovered that pole which had 
never yet been trodden by a human creature ? 

“No, sir,” he replied; “but we will discover it to- 
gether. Where others have failed, / will not fail. I 
have never yet led my Nautilus so far into southern 
seas ; but, I repeat, it shall go further yet.” 

“ I can well believe you. Captain,” said I, in a 
slightly ironical tone. “ I believe you ! Let us go 
ahead ! There are no obstacles for us ! Let us smash 
this iceberg! Let us blow it up; and if it resists, let 
us give the Nautilus wings to fly over it ! ” 

“Over it, sir!” said Captain Nemo, quietly; “no, 
not over it, but under it ! ” 

“ Under it ! ” I exclaimed, a sudden idea of the 
Captain’s projects flashing upon my mind. I under- 
stood; the wonderful qualities of the Nautilus were 
going to serve us in this superhuman enterprise. 

“ I see we are beginning to understand one another, 
sir,” said the Captain, half smiling. “You begin to 


UNDER THE SEA 


331 


see the possibility — I should say the success — of this 
attempt. That which is impossible for an ordinary 
vessel, is easy to the Nautilus. If a continent lies 
before the pole, it must stop before the continent ; but 
if, on the contrary, the pole is washed by open sea, it 
will go even to the pole.” 

“ Certainly,” said I, carried away by the Captain's 
reasoning ; “ if the surface of the sea is solidified by 
the ice, the lower depths are free by the providential 
law which has placed the maximum of density of the 
waters of the ocean one degree higher than freezing 
point; and, if I am not mistaken, the portion of this 
iceberg which is above the water, is as four to one 
to that which is below.” 

“ Very nearly, sir; for one foot of iceberg above the 
sea there are three below it. If these ice mountains 
are not more than 300 ïeet above the surface, they are 
not more than 900 beneath. And what are 900 feet to 
the N autilusf 

‘‘ Nothing, sir.” 

It could even seek at greater depths that uniform 
temperature of sea-water, and there brave with im- 
punity the thirty or forty degrees of surface cold.” 

“Just so, sir — just so,” I replied, getting animated. 

“ The only difficulty,” continued Captain Nemo, “ is 
that of remaining several days without renewing our 
provision of air.” 

“ Is that all ? The Nautilus has vast reservoirs ; we 
can fill them, and they will supply us with all the oxy- 
gen we want.” 

“ Well thought of, M. Aronnax,” replied the Cap- 
tain, smiling. “ But not wishing you to accuse me of 
rashness, I will first give you all my objections.” 


332 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Have you any more to make ? ” 

Only one. It is possible, if the sea exists at the 
south pole, that it may be covered ; and, consequently, 
we shall be unable to come to the surface.” 

Good, sir ! but do you forget that the Nautilus is 
armed with a powerful spur, and could we not send 
it diagonally against these fields of ice, which would 
open at the shock.” 

“ Ah ! sir, you are full of ideas to-day.” 

Besides, Captain,” I added, enthusiastically, “ why 
should we not find the sea open at the south pole as 
well as at the north? The frozen poles and the poles 
of the earth do not coincide, either in the southern or 
in the northern regions; and, until it is proved to the 
contrary, we may suppose either a continent or an 
ocean free from ice at these two points of the globe.” 

“ I think so, too, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain 
Nemo. I only wish you to observe that, after having 
made so many objections to my project, you are now 
crushing me with arguments in its favour ! ” 

The preparations for this audacious attempt now 
began. The powerful pumps of the Nautilus were 
working air into the reservoirs and storing it at high 
pressure. About four o’clock. Captain Nemo an- 
nounced the closing of the panels on the platform. I 
threw one last look at the massive iceberg which we 
were going to cross. The weather was clear, the at- 
mosphere pure enough, the cold very great, being 
twelve degrees below zero ; but the wind having gone 
down, this temperature was not so unbearable. About 
ten men mounted the sides of the Nautilus, armed with 
pickaxes to break the ice around the vessel, which was 
soon free. The operation was quickly performed, for 


UNDER THE SEA 


333 


the fresh ice was still very thin. We all went below. 
The usual reservoirs were filled with the newly liber- 
ated water, and the Nautilus soon descended. I had 
taken my place with Conseil in the saloon ; through the 
open window we could see the lower beds of the South- 
ern Ocean. The thermometer went up, the needle of 
the compass deviated on the dial. At about 900 feet, 
as Captain Nemo had foreseen, we were floating 
beneath the undulating bottom of the iceberg. But 
the Nautilus went lower still — it went to the depth of 
four hundred fathoms. The temperature of the water 
at the surface showed twelve degrees, it was now only 
eleven; we had gained two. I need not say the tem- 
perature of the Nautilus was raised by its heating ap- 
paratus to a much higher degree; every manoeuvre 
was accomplished with wonderful precision. 

We shall pass it, if you please, sir,” said Conseil. 

“ I believe we shall,” I said, in a tone of firm con- 
viction. 

In this open sea, the Nautilus had taken its course 
direct to the pole, without leaving the fifty-second 
meridian. From 67° 30' to 90°, twent3^-two degrees 
and a half of latitude remained to travel ; that is, about 
five hundred leagues. The Nautilus kept up a mean 
speed of twenty-six miles an hour — the speed of an 
express train. If that was kept up, in forty hours we 
should reach the pole. 

For a part of the night the novelty of the situation 
kept us at the window. The sea was lit with the elec- 
tric lantern ; but it was deserted ; fishes did not sojourn 
in these imprisoned waters: they only found there a 
passage to take them from the antarctic ocean to the 
open polar sea. Our pace was rapid ; we could feel it 


334 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


by the quivering of the long steel body. About two in 
the morning, I took some hours’ repose, and Conseil 
did the same. In crossing the waist I did not meet 
Captain Nemo: I supposed him to be in the pilot’s 
cage. The next morning, the 19th of March, I took 
my post once more in the saloon. The electric log 
told me that the speed of the Nautilus had been slack- 
ened. It was then going towards the surface; but 
prudently emptying its reservoirs very slowly. My 
heart beat fast. Were we going to emerge and regain 
the open polar atmosphere? No! A shock told me 
that the Nautilus had struck the bottom of the iceberg, 
still very thick, judging from the deadened sound. 
We had indeed “ struck,” to use a sea expression, but 
in an inverse sense, and at a thousand feet deep. This 
would give three thousand feet of ice above us; one 
thousand being above the water-mark. The iceberg was 
then higher than at its borders — not a very reassuring 
fact. Several times that day the Nautilus tried again, 
and every time it struck the wall which lay like a 
ceiling above it. Sometimes it met with but 900 yards, 
only 200 of which rose above the surface. It was 
twice the height it was when the Nautilus had gone 
under the waves. I carefully noted the different 
depths, and thus obtained a submarine profile of the 
chain as it was developed under water. That night 
no change had taken place in our situation. Still ice 
between four and five hundred yards in depth! It 
was evidently diminishing, but still what a thickness 
between us and the surface of the ocean ! It was then 
eight. According to the daily custom on board the 
Nautilus, its air should have been renewed four hours 
ago ; but I did not suffer much, although Captain Nemo 


UNDER THE SEA 


33S 


had not yet made any demand upon his reserve of 
oxygen. My sleep was painful that night; hope and 
fear besieged me by turns: I rose several times. The 
groping of the Nautilus continued. About three in the 
morning, I noticed that the lower surface of the ice- 
berg was only about fifty feet deep. One hundred and 
fifty feet now separated us from the surface of the 
waters. The iceberg was by degrees becoming an ice- 
field, the mountain a plain. My eyes never left the 
manometer. We were still rising diagonally to the 
surface, which sparkled under the electric rays. The 
iceberg was stretching both above and beneath into 
lengthening slopes; mile after mile it was getting 
thinner. At length, at six in the morning of that 
memorable day, the 19th of March, the door of the 
saloon opened, and Captain Nemo appeared. 

“ The sea is open I ” was all he said. 


CHAPTER XIVi 

THE SOUTH POLE 


I RUSHED on to the platform. Yes ! the open sea, with 
but a few scattered pieces of ice and moving icebergs ; 
— a long stretch of sea; a world of birds in the air, 
and myriads of fishes under those waters, which varied 
from intense blue to olive green, according to the 
bottom. The thermometer marked three degrees centi- 
grade above zero. It was comparatively spring, shut 
up as we were behind this iceberg, whose lengthened 
mass was dimly seen on our northern horizon. 

Are we at the pole ?” I asked the Captain, with a 
beating heart. 

I do not know,” he replied. “ At noon I will 
take our bearings.” 

‘‘ But will the sun show himself through this fog? ” 
said I, looking at the leaden sky. 

“ However little it shows, it will be enough,” replied 
the Captain. 

About ten miles south, a solitary island rose to a 
height of one hundred and four yards. We made for 
it, but carefully, for the sea might be strewn with 
banks. One hour afterwards we had reached it, two 
hours later we had made the round of it. It measured 
four or five miles in circumference. A narrow canal 
separated it from a considerable stretch of land, per- 
haps a continent, for we could not see its limits. The 
existence of this land seemed to give some colour to 


UNDER THE SEA 


337 


Maury’s hypothesis. The ingenious American has re- 
marked, that between the south pole and the sixtieth 
parallel, the sea is covered with floating ice of enor- 
mous size, which is never met with in the North At- 
lantic. From this fact he has drawn the conclusion 
that the antarctic circle encloses considerable conti- 
nents, as icebergs cannot form in open sea, but only 
on the coasts. According to these calculations, the 
mass of ice surrounding the southern pole forms a 
vast cap, the circumference of which must be, at least, 
2500 miles. But the Nautilus, for fear of running 
aground, had stopped about three cables* length from 
a strand over which reared a superb heap of rocks. 
The boat was launched; the Captain, two of his men 
bearing instruments. Conseil, and myself, were in it. 
It was ten in the morning. I had not seen Ned Land. 
Doubtless the Canadian did not wish to admit the 
presence of the south pole. A few strokes of the oar 
brought us to the sand, where we ran ashore. Conseil 
was going to jump on to the land, when I held him 
back. 

“ Sir,” said I to Captain Nemo, “ to you belongs the 
honour of first setting foot on this land.” 

Yes, sir,” said the Captain ; “ and if I do not hesi- 
tate to tread this south pole, it is because, up to this 
time, no human being has left a trace there.” 

Saying this, he jumped lightly on to the sand. His 
heart beat with emotion. He climbed a rock, sloping 
to a little promontory, and there, with his arms crossed, 
mute and motionless, and with an eager look, he 
seemed to take possession of these southern regions. 
After five minutes passed in this ecstasy, he turned 
to us. 


338 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


‘‘ When you like, sir/' 

I landed, followed by Conseil, leaving the two men 
in the boat. For a long way the soil was composed of 
a reddish, sandy stone, something like crushed brick, 
scoriae, streams of lava, and pumice stones. One could 
not mistake its volcanic origin. In some parts, slight 
curls of smoke emitted a sulphurous smell, proving that 
the internal fires had lost nothing of their expansive 
powers, though, having climbed a high acclivity, I 
could see no volcano for a radius of several miles. 
We know that in those antarctic countries, James 
Ross found two craters, the Erebus and Terror, in full 
activity, on the 167th meridian, latitude 77® 32'. The 
vegetation of this desolate continent seemed to me 
much restricted. Some lichens of the species unsnea 
melanoxantha lay upon the black rocks; some micro- 
scopic plants, rudimentary diatomas, a kind of cells, 
placed between two quartz shells; long purple and 
scarlet fucus, supported on little swimming bladders, 
which the breaking of the waves brought to the shore. 
These constituted the meagre flora of this region. The 
shore was strewn with molluscs, little mussels, limpets, 
smooth bucards in the shape of a heart, and particu- 
larly some clios, with oblong membraneous bodies, the 
head of which was formed of two rounded lobes. I 
also saw myriads of northern clios, one and a quarter 
inches long, of which a whale would swallow a whole 
world at a mouthful; and some charming pteropods, 
perfect sea-butterflies, animating the waters on the 
skirts of the shore. 

Amongst other zoophytes, there appeared on the 
high bottoms some coral shrubs, of that kind which, 
according to James Ross, live in the antarctic seas to 


UNDER THE SEA 


339 


the depth of more than looo yards. Then there were 
little kingfishers, belonging to the species procellaria 
pelagica, as well as a large number of asteriads, 
peculiar to these climates, and starfish studding the 
soil. But where life abounded most was in the air. 
There, thousands of birds fluttered and flew of all 
kinds, deafening us with their cries ; others crowded the 
rocks, looking at us as we passed by without fear, and 
pressing familiarly close by our feet. There were pen- 
guins, so agile in the water, that they have been taken 
for the rapid bonitos, heavy and awkward as they are 
on the ground ; they were uttering harsh cries, a large 
assembly, sober in gesture, but extravagant in clamour. 
Amongst the birds I noticed the chionis, of the long- 
legged family, as large as pigeons, white, with a short 
conical beak, and the eye framed in a red circle. Con- 
seil laid in a stock of them, for these winged creatures, 
properly prepared, make an agreeable meat. Alba- 
trosses passed in the air (the expanse of their wings 
being at least four yards and a half), and justly called 
the vultures of the ocean; some gigantic petrels, and 
some damiers, a kind of small duck, the under part of 
whose body is black and white; then there were a 
whole series of petrels, some whitish, with brown- 
bordered wings, others blue, peculiar to the antarctic 
seas, and so oily, as I told Conseil, that the inhabitants 
of the Ferroe Islands had nothing to do before lighting 
them, but to put a wick in. 

‘‘A little more,” said Conseil, ‘‘and they would be 
perfect lamps! After that, we cannot expect Nature 
to have previously furnished them with wicks ! ” 

About half a mile further on, the soil was riddled 
with ruff’s nests, a sort oi laying ground, out of which 


340 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


many birds were issuing. Captain Nemo had some 
hundreds hunted. They uttered a cry like the braying 
of an ass, were about the size of a goose, slate colour 
on the body, white beneath, with a yellow line round 
their throats; they allowed themselves to be killed 
with a stone, never trying to escape. But the fog did 
not lift, and at eleven the sun had not yet shown itself. 
Its absence made me uneasy. Without it no observa- 
tions were possible. How, then, could we decide 
whether we had reached the pole? When I rejoined 
Captain Nemo, I found him leaning on a piece of rock, 
silently watching the sky. He seemed impatient and 
vexed. But what was to he done? This rash and 
powerful man could not command the sun as he did 
the sea. Noon arrived without the orb of day showing 
itself for an instant. We could not even tell its position 
behind the curtain of fog; and soon the fog turned to 
snow. 

‘‘ Till to-morrow,” said the Captain, quietly, and we 
returned to the Nautilus amid these atmospheric 
disturbances. 

The tempest of snow continued till the next day. 
It was impossible to remain on the platform. From 
the saloon, where I was taking notes of incidents hap- 
pening during this excursion to the polar continent, 
I could hear the cries of petrels and albatrosses sport- 
ing in the midst of this violent storm. The Nautilus 
did not remain motionless, but skirted the coast, ad- 
vancing ten miles more to the south in the half light 
left by the sun as it skirted the edge of the horizon. 

^ The next day, the 20th of March, the snow had ceased. 

' The cold was a little greater, the thermometer showing 
two degrees below zero. The fog was rising, and I 


UNDER THE SEA 


341 


hoped that that day our observations might be taken. 
Captain Nemo not having yet appeared, the boat took 
Conseil and myself to land. The soil was still of the 
same volcanic nature ; everywhere were traces of lava, 
scoriæ, and basalt; but the crater which had vomited 
them I could not see. Here, as lower down, this con- 
tinent was alive with myriads of birds. But their rule 
was now divided with large troops of sea-mammals, 
looking at us with their soft eyes. There were several 
kinds of seals, some stretched on the earth, some on 
flakes of ice, many going in and out of the sea. They 
did not flee at our approach, never having had anything 
to do with man ; and I reckoned that there were pro- 
visions there for hundreds of vessels. 

“ Sir,” said Conseil, “ will you tell me the names of 
these creatures ? ” 

“ They are seals and morses.” 

It was now eight in the morning. Four hours re- 
mained to us before the sun could be observed with 
advantage. I directed our steps towards a vast bay 
cut in the steep granite shore. There, I can aver that 
earth and ice were lost to sight by the numbers of sea- 
mammals covering them, and I involuntarily sought 
for old Proteus, the mythological shepherd who 
watched these immense flocks of Neptune. There 
were more seals than anything else, forming distinct 
groups, male and female, the father watching over his 
family, the mother suckling her little ones, some al- 
ready strong enough to go a few steps. When they 
wished to change their place, they took little jumps, 
made by the contraction of their bodies, and helped ^ 
awkwardly enough by their imperfect fin, which, as 
with the lamantin, their congener, forms a perfect 


342 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


forearm. I should say that, in the water, which is their 
element — the spine of these creatures is flexible — with 
smooth and close skin, and webbed feet, they swim 
admirably. In resting on the earth they take the most 
graceful attitudes. Thus the ancients, observing their 
soft and expressive looks, which cannot be surpassed 
by the most beautiful look a woman can give, their 
clear voluptuous eyes, their charming positions, and 
the poetry of their manners, metamorphosed them, the 
male into a triton and the female into a mermaid. I 
made Conseil notice the considerable development of 
the lobes of the brain in these interesting cetaceans. 
No mammal, except man, has such a quantity of cere- 
bral matter ; they are also capable of receiving a certain 
amount of education, are easily domesticated, and I 
think, with other naturalists, that, if properly taught, 
they would be of great service as fishing-dogs. The 
greater part of them slept on the rocks or on the sand. 
Amongst these seals, properly so called, which have 
no external ears (in which they differ from the otter, 
whose ears are prominent), I noticed several varieties 
of stenorhynchi about three yards long, with a white 
coat, bulldog heads, armed with teeth in both jaws, 
four incisors at the top and four at the bottom, and 
two large canine teeth in the shape of a fleur-de- 
lis.” Amongst them glided sea-elephants, a kind of 
seal, with short flexible trunks. The giants of this 
species measured twenty feet round, and ten yards and 
a half in length; but they did not move as we ap- 
proached. 

“ These creatures are not dangerous ? ” asked Con- 
seil. 

‘‘ No ; not unless you attack them. When they have 


UNDER THE SEA 


343 


to defend their young, their rage is terrible, and it is 
not uncommon for them to break the fishing-boats to 
pieces.” 

“ They are quite right,” said Conseil. 

“ I do not say they are not.” 

Two miles further on we were stopped by the prom- 
ontory which shelters the bay from the southerly winds. 
Beyond it we heard loud bellowings such as a troop 
of ruminants would produce. 

“ Good ! ” said Conseil ; a concert of bulls ! ” 

‘‘ No ; a concert of morses.” 

‘‘ They are fighting ! ” 

“ They are either fighting or playing.” 

We now began to climb the blackish rocks, amid 
unforeseen stumbles, and over stones which the ice 
made slippery. More than once I rolled over at the 
expense of my loins. Conseil, more prudent or more 
steady, did not stumble, and helped me up, saying— 

“ If, sir, you would have the kindness to take wider 
steps, you would preserve your equilibrium better.” 

Arrived at the upper ridge of the promontory, I saw 
a vast white plain covered with morses. They were 
playing amongst themselves, and what we heard were 
bellowings of pleasure, not of anger. 

As I passed near these curious animals, I could 
examine them leisurely, for they did not move. Their 
skins were thick and rugged, of a yellowish tint, ap- 
proaching to red ; their hair was short and scant. 
Some of them were four yards and a quarter long. 
Quieter, and less timid than their congeners of the 
north, they did not, like them, place sentinels round 
the outskirts of their encampment. After examining 
this city of morses, I began to think of returning. It 


344 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


was eleven o’clock, and if Captain Nemo found the 
conditions favourable for observations, I wished to 
be present at the operation. We followed a narrow 
pathway running along the summit of the steep shore. 
At half-past eleven we had reached the place where we 
landed. The boat had run aground, bringing the Cap- 
tain. I saw him standing on a block of basalt, his 
instruments near him, his eyes fixed on the northern 
horizon, near which the sun was then describing a 
lengthened curve. I took my place beside him, and 
waited without speaking. Noon arrived, and, as be- 
fore, the sun did not appear. It was a fatality. Ob- 
servations were still wanting. If not accomplished 
to-morrow, we must give up all idea of taking any. 
We were indeed exactly at the 20th of March. To- 
morrow, the 2 1st, would be the equinox ; the sun would 
disappear behind the horizon for six months, and with 
its disappearance the long polar night would begin. 
Since the September equinox it had emerged from the 
northern horizon, rising by lengthened spirals up to 
the 2 1 St of December. At this period, the summer 
solstice of the northern regions, it had begun to de- 
scend; and to-morrow was to shed its last rays upon 
them. I communicated my fears and observations 
to Captain Nemo. 

“ You are right, M. Aronnax,” said he ; “ if to- 
morrow I cannot take the altitude of the sun, I shall 
not be able to do it for six months. But precisely be- 
cause chance has led me into these seas on the 21st 
of March, my bearings will be easy to take, if at 
twelve we can see the sun.” 

Why, Captain ? ” 

Because then the orb of day describes such 


UNDER THE SEA 


345 


lengthened curves, that it is difficult to measure 
exactly its height above the horizon, and grave errors 
may be made with instruments.” 

What will you do then ? ” 

“ I shall only use my chronometer,” replied Captain 
Nemo. “ If to-morrow, the 21st of March, the disc 
of the sun, allowing for refraction, is exactly cut by 
the northern horizon, it will show that I am at the 
south pole.” 

“ Just so,” said I. But this statement is not 
mathematically correct, because the equinox does not 
necessarily begin at noon.” 

“ Very likely, sir; but the error will not be a hun- 
dred yards, and we do not want more. Till to-morrow 
then ! ” 

Captain Nemo returned on board. Conseil and I 
remained to survey the shore, observing and study- 
ing until five o’clock. Then I went to bed, not, how- 
ever, without invoking, like the Indian, the favour of 
the radiant orb. The next day, the 21st of March, at 
five in the morning, I mounted the platform. I found 
Captain Nemo there. 

“ The weather is lightening a little,” said he. “ I 
have some hope. After breakfast we will go on shore, 
and choose a post for observation.” 

That point settled, I sought Ned Land. I wanted 
to take him with me. But the obstinate Canadian 
refused, and I saw that his taciturnity and his bad 
humour grew day by day. After all I was not sorry 
for his obstinacy under the circumstances. Indeed, 
there were too many seals on shore, and we ought not 
to lay such temptations in this unreflecting fisherman’s 
way. Breakfast over, we went on shore. The 


346 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Nautilus had gone some miles further up in the night. 
It was a whole league from the coast, above which 
reared a sharp peak about five hundred yards high. 
The boat took with me Captain Nemo, two men of the 
crew, and the instruments, which consisted of a 
chronometer, a telescope, and a barometer. While 
crossing, I saw numerous whales belonging to the 
three kinds peculiar to the southern seas; the whale, 
or the English “ right whale,” which has no dorsal 
fin ; the “ humpback,” or balænopteron, with reeved 
chest, and large whitish fins which, in spite of its name, 
do not form wings; and the fin-back, of a yellowish 
brown, the liveliest of all the cetacea. This powerful 
creature is heard a long way off when he throws to 
a great height columns of air and vapour, which look 
like whirlwinds of smoke. These different mammals 
were disporting themselves in troops in the quiet 
waters ; and I could see that this basin of the antarctic 
pole served as a place of refuge to the cetacea too 
closely tracked by the hunters. I also noticed long 
whitish lines of salpæ, a kind of gregarious mollusc, 
and large medusæ floating between the reeds. 

At nine we landed; the sky was brightening, the 
clouds were flying to the south, and the fog seemed to 
be leaving the cold surface of the waters. Captain 
Nemo went towards the peak, which he doubtless 
meant to be his observatory. It was a painful ascent 
over the sharp lava and the pumice stones, in an at- 
mosphere often impregnated with a sulphurous smell 
from the smoking cracks. For a man unaccustomed 
to walk on land, the Captain climbed the steep slopes 
with an agility I never saw equalled, and which a 
hunter would have envied. We were two hours get- 


UNDER THE SEA 


347 


ting to the summit of this peak, which was half 
porphyry and half basalt. From thence we looked 
upon a vast sea, which, towards the north, distinctly 
traced its boundary line upon the sky. At our feet 
lay fields of dazzling whiteness. Over our heads a 
pale azure, free from fog. To the north the disc of 
the sun seemed like a ball of fire, already horned by 
the cutting of the horizon. From the bosom of the 
water rose sheaves of liquid jets by hundreds. In the 
distance lay the Nautilus like a cetacean asleep on the 
water. 

Behind us, to the south and east, an immense 
country, and a chaotic heap of rocks and ice, the limits 
of which were not visible. On arriving at the sum- 
mit, Captain Nemo carefully took the mean height of 
the barometer, for he would have to consider that in 
taking his observations. At a quarter to twelve, the 
sun, then seen only by reflection, looked like a golden 
disc shedding its last rays upon this deserted continent, 
and seas which never man had yet ploughed. Captain 
Nemo, furnished with a lenticular glass, which, by 
means of a mirror, corrected the refraction, watched 
the orb sinking below the horizon by degrees, follow- 
ing a lengthened diagonal. I held the chronometer. 
My heart beat fast. If the disappearance of the half- 
disc of the sun coincided with twelve o’clock on the 
chronometer, we were at the pole itself. 

“ Twelve ! ” I exclaimed. 

‘‘ The South Pole ! ” replied Captain Nemo, in a 
grave voice, handing me the glass, which showed the 
orb cut in exactly equal parts by the horizon. 

I looked at the last fays crowning the peak, and the 
shadows mounting by degrees up its slopes. At that 


348 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


moment Captain Nemo, resting with his hand on 
my shoulder, said — 

I, Captain Nemo, on this 21st day of March, 1868, 
have reached the south pole on the ninetieth degree; 
and I take possession of this part of the globe, equal 
to one-sixth of the known continents.” 

“ In whose name. Captain ? ” 

In my own, sir ! ” 

Saying which, Captain Nemo unfurled a black ban- 
ner, bearing an N in gold quartered on its bunting. 
Then turning towards the orb of day, whose last 
rays lapped the horizon of the sea, he exclaimed — 
Adieu, sun ! Disappear, thou radiant orb ! rest 
beneath this open sea, and let a night of six months 
spread its shadows over my new domains ! ” 


CHAPTER XV 


ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT 

The next day, the 22d of March, at six in the morn- 
ing, preparations for departure were begun. The last 
gleams of twilight were melting into night. The cold 
was great; the constellations shone with wonderful 
intensity. In the zenith glittered that wondrous 
Southern Cross — the polar bear of antarctic regions. 
The thermometer showed twelve degrees below zero, 
and when the wind freshened, it was most biting. 
Flakes of ice increased on the open water. The sea 
seemed everywhere alike. Numerous blackish patches 
spread on the surface, showing the formation of fresh 
ice. Evidently the southern basin, frozen during the 
six winter months, was absolutely inaccessible. What 
became of the whales in that time? Doubtless they 
went beneath the icebergs, seeking more practicable 
seas. As to the seals and morses, accustomed to live 
in a hard climate, they remained on these icy shores. 
These creatures have the instinct to break holes in the 
ice-fields, and to keep them open. To these holes 
they come for breath ; when the birds, driven away by 
the cold, have emigrated to the north, these sea-mam- 
mals remain sole masters of the polar continent. But 
the reservoirs were filling with water, and the 
Nautilus was slowly descending. At looo feet deep 
it stopped; its screw béât the waves, and it advanced 


350 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


straight towards the north, at a speed of fifteen miles 
an hour. Towards night it was already floating under 
the immense body of the iceberg. At three in the 
morning I was awakened by a violent shock. I sat 
up in my bed and listened in the darkness, when I 
was thrown into the middle of the room. The Nau- 
tilus, after having struck, had rebounded violently. 
I groped along the partition, and by the staircase to 
the saloon, which was lit by the luminous ceiling. 
The furniture was upset. Fortunately the windows 
were firmly set, and had held fast. The pictures on 
the starboard-side, from being no longer vertical, were 
clinging to the paper, whilst those of the port-side 
were hanging at least a foot from the wall. The 
Nautilus was lying on its starboard side perfectly 
motionless. I heard footsteps, and a confusion of 
voices; but Captain Nemo did not appear. As I was 
leaving the saloon, Ned Land and Conseil entered. 

“ What is the matter ? ” said I, at once. 

I came to ask you, sir,'' replied Conseil. 

‘‘ Confound it ! " exclaimed the Canadian, '' I know 
well enough! The Nautilus has struck; and judging 
by the way she lies, I do not think she will right her- 
self as she did the first time in Torres Straits." 

But," I asked, “ has she at least come to the 
surface of the sea ? " 

‘ We do not know," said Conseil. 

“ It is easy to decide," I answered. I consulted 
the manometer. To my great surprised it showed a 
depth of more than i8o fathoms. “ What does that 
mean ?" I exclaimed. 

‘‘We must ask Captain Nemo," said Conseil. 

“ But where shall we find him?" said Ned Land. 


UNDER THE SEA 


351 


“ Follow me,” said I, to my companions. 

We left the saloon. There was no one in the 
library. At the centre staircase, by the berths of 
the ship’s crew, there was no one. I thought that 
Captain Nemo must be in the pilot’s cage. It was 
best to wait. We all returned to the saloon. For 
twenty minutes we remained thus, trying to hear the 
slightest noise which might be made on board the 
Nautilus, when Captain Nemo entered. He seemed 
not to see us ; his face, generally so impassive, showed 
signs of uneasiness. He watched the compass silently, 
then the manometer; and going to the planisphere, 
placed his finger on a spot representing the southern 
seas. I would not interrupt him; but some minutes 
later, when he turned towards me, I said, using one of 
his own expressions in the Torres Straits — 

“ An incident. Captain ? ” 

No, sir ; an accident this time.” 

Serious?” 

Perhaps.” 

Is the danger immediate ? ” ; 

‘‘ No.” 

‘‘The Nautilus has stranded?” 

“Yes.” 

“ And this has happened — ^how ? ” 

“ From a caprice of nature, not from the ignorance 
of man. Not a mistake has been made in the work- 
ing. But we cannot prevent equilibrium from pro- 
ducing its effects. We may brave human laws, but 
we cannot resist natural ones.” 

Captain Nemo had chosen a strange moment for 
uttering this philosophical reflection. On the whole, 
his answer helped me little. 


352 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ May I ask sir, the cause of this accident ? ” 

“ An enormous block of ice, a whole mountain, has 
turned over,” he replied. “ When icebergs are under- 
mined at their base by warmer water or reiterated 
shocks, their centre of gravity rises, and the whole 
thing turns over. This is what has happened; one 
of these blocks, as it fell, struck the Nautilus, then, 
gliding under its hull, raised it with irresistible force, 
bringing it into beds which are not so thick, where 
it is lying on its side.” 

“ But can we not get the Nautilus off by emptying 
its reservoirs, that it may regain its equilibrium ? ” 
That, sir, is being done at this moment. You :can 
hear the pump working. Look at the needle of the 
manometer; it shows that the Nautilus is rising, but 
the block of ice is rising with it; and, until some 
obstacle stops its ascending motion, our position can- 
not be altered.” 

Indeed, the Nautilus still held the same position 
to starboard; doubtless it would right itself when the 
block stopped. But at this moment who knows if we 
may not be frightfully crushed between the two glassy 
surfaces? I reflected on all the consequences of our 
position. 

Captain Nemo never took his eyes off the manom- 
eter. Since the fall of the iceberg, the Nautilus 
had risen about a hundred and fifty feet, but it still 
made the same angle with the perpendicular. Sud- 
denly a slight movement was felt in the hold. Evidently 
it was righting a little. Things hanging in the saloon 
were sensibly returning to their normal position. The 
partitions were nearing the upright. No one spoke. 
With beating hearts we watched and felt the straight- 


UNDER THE SEA 


353 


ening. The boards became horizontal under our feet. 
Ten minutes passed. 

'' At last we have righted ! ” I exclaimed. 

Yes/* said Captain Nemo, going to the door of 
the saloon. 

But are we floating ? I asked. 

“ Certainly,'' he replied ; “ since the reservoirs are 
not empty; and, when empty, the Nautilus must rise 
to the surface of the sea." 

We were in open sea ; but at a distance of about ten 
yards, on either side of the Nautilus, rose a dazzling 
wall of ice. Above and beneath the same wall. 
Above, because the lower surface of the iceberg 
stretched over us like an immense ceiling. Beneath, 
because the overturned block, having slid by degrees, 
had found a resting place on the lateral walls, which 
kept it in that position. The Nautilus was really 
imprisoned in a perfect tunnel of ice more than twenty 
yards in breadth, filled with quiet water. It was easy 
to get out of it by going either forward or backward, 
and then make a free passage under the iceberg, some 
hundreds of yards deeper. The luminous ceiling had 
been extinguished, but the saloon was still resplendent 
with intense light. It was the powerful reflection 
from the glass partition sent violently back to the 
sheets of the lantern. I cannot describe the effect of 
the voltaic rays upon the great blocks so capriciously 
cut; upon every angle, every ridge, every facet was 
thrown a different light, according to the nature of 
the veins running through the ice ; a dazzling mine of 
gems, particularly of sapphires, their blue rays cross- 
ing with the green of the emerald. Here and there 
were opal shades of wonderful softness, running 


354 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


through bright spots like diamonds of fire, the 
brilliancy of which the eye could not bear. The power 
of the lantern seemed increased a hundredfold, like a 
lamp through the lenticular plates of a first-class light- 
house. 

How beautiful ! how beautiful ! ” cried Conseil. 

Yes,” I said, “ it is a wonderful sight. Is it not, 
Ned?” 

“Yes, confound it! Yes,” answered Ned Land, 
“ it is superb ! I am mad at being obliged to admit it. 
No one has ever seen anything like it; but the sight 
may cost us dear. And if I must say all, I think we 
are seeing here things which God never intended man 
to see.” 

Ned was right, it was too beautiful. Suddenly a 
cry from Conseil made me turn. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“ Shut your eyes, sir ! do not look, sir ! ” Saying 
which. Conseil clapped his hands over his eyes. 

“ But what is the matter, my boy ? ” 

“ I am dazzled, blinded.” 

My eyes turned involuntarily towards the glass, but 
I could not stand the fire which seemed to devour them. 
I understood what had happened. The Nautilus had 
put on full speed. All the quiet lustre of the ice-walls 
was at once changed into flashes of lightning. The 
fire from these myriads of diamonds was blinding. 
It required some time to calm our troubled looks. At 
last the hands were taken down. 

“Faith, I should never have believed it,” said Conseil. 

It was then five in the morning ; and at that moment 
a shock was felt at the bows of the Nautilus. I knew 
that its spur had struck a block of ice. It must have 


UNDER THE SEA 


355 


been a false manœuvre, for this submarine tunnel, 
obstructed by blocks, was not very easy navigation. 
\ thought that Captain Nemo, by changing his course, 
would turn these obstacles, or else follow the windings 
of the tunnel. In any case, the road before us could 
not be entirely blocked. But, contrary to my expecta- 
tions, the Nautilus took a decided retrograde motion. 

“ We are going backwards?” said Conseil. 

“ Yes,” I replied. “ This end of the tunnel can have 
no egress.” 

And then?” 

“ Then,” said I, “ the working is easy. We must 
go back again, and go out at the southern opening. 
That is all.” 

In speaking thus, I wished to appear more confident 
than I really was. But the retrograde motion of the 
Nautilus was increasing; and, reversing the screw it 
carried us at great speed. 

It will be a hindrance,” said Ned. 

“ What does it matter, some hours more or less, 
provided we get out at last ? ” 

“ Yes,” repeated Ned Land, “ provided we do get 
out at last ! ” 

For a short time I walked from the saloon to the 
library. My companions were silent. I soon threw 
myself on an ottoman, and took a book, which my 
eyes overran mechanically. A quarter of an hour 
after. Conseil, approaching me, said, “ Is what you are 
reading very interesting, sir ? ” 

Very interesting! ” I replied. 

“ I should think so, sir. It is your own book you 
are reading.” 

My book?” 


356 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


And indeed I was holding in my hand the work on 
the “ Great Submarine Depths.” I did not even dream 
of it. I closed the book, and returned to my walk. 
Ned and Conseil rose to go. 

“ Stay here, my friends,” said I, detaining them. 

Let us remain together until we are out of this 
block.” 

As you please, sir,” Conseil replied. 

Some hours passed. I often looked at the instru- 
ments hanging from the partition. The manometer 
showed that the Nautilus kept at a constant depth of 
more than three hundred yards; the compass still 
pointed to the south; the log indicated a speed of 
twenty miles an hour, which, in such cramped space, 
was very great. But Captain Nemo knew that he 
could not hasten too much, and that minutes were 
worth ages to us. At twenty-five minutes past eight 
a second shock took place, this time from behind. I 
turned pale. My companions were close by my side. 
I seized Conseil’s hand. Our looks expressed our 
feelings better than words. At this moment the Cap- 
tain entered the saloon. I went up to him. 

Our course is barred southward ?” I asked. 

“ Yes, sir. The iceberg has shifted, and closed 
every outlet.” 

“We are blocked up, then?” 

“ Yes.” 


CHAPTER XVI 


WANT OF AIR 

Thus, around the Nautilus, above and below, was an 
impenetrable wall of ice. We were prisoners to the 
iceberg. I watched the Captain. His countenance 
had resumed its habitual imperturbability. 

“ Gentlemen,” he said, calmly, there are two ways 
of dying in the circumstances in which we are placed.” 
(This inexplicable person had the air of a mathe- 
matical professor lecturing to his pupils.) “ The first 
is to be crushed; the second is to die of suffocation. 
I do not speak of the possibility of dying of hunger, 
for the supply of provisions in the Nautilus will cer- 
tainly last longer than we shall. Let us then calcu- 
late our chances.” 

As to suffocation. Captain,” I replied, “ that is not 
to be feared, because our reservoirs are full.” 

Just so ; but they will only yield two days’ supply 
of air. Now, for thirty-six hours we have been hidden 
under the water, and already the heavy atmosphere of 
the Nautilus requires renewal. In forty-eight hours 
our reserve will be exhausted.” 

“ Well, Captain, can we be delivered before forty- 
eight hours ? ” 

We will attempt it, at least, by piercing the wall 
that surrounds us.” 

“ On which side ? ” 


358 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


‘"Sound will tell us. I am going to run the 
Nautilus aground on the lower bank, and my men 
will attack the iceberg on the side that is least thick.” 

Captain Nemo went out. Soon I discovered by a 
hissing noise that the water was entering the reser- 
voirs. The Nautilus sank slowly, and rested on the 
ice at a depth of 350 yards, the depth at which the 
lower bank was immersed. 

“ My friends,” I said, “ our situation is serious, but 
I rely on your courage and energy.” 

“ Sir,” replied the Canadian, “ I am ready to do 
anything for the general safety.” 

“Good! Ned,” and I held out my hand to the 
Canadian. 

“ I will add,” he continued, “ that being as handy 
with the pickaxe as with the harpoon, if I can be 
useful to the Captain, he can command my services.” 

“ He will not refuse your help. Come, Ned! ” 

I led him to the room where the crew of the Nautilus 
were putting on their cork- jackets. I told the Captain 
of Ned’s proposal, which he accepted. The Canadian 
put on his sea-costume, and was ready as soon as his 
companions. When Ned was dressed, I re-entered 
the drawing-room, where the panes of glass were open, 
and, posted near Conseil, I examined the ambient 
beds that supported the Nautilus, Some instants after, 
we saw a dozen of the crew set on foot on the bank 
of ice, and among them Ned Land, easily known by 
his stature. Captain Nemo was with them. Before 
proceeding to dig the walls, he took the soundings, 
to be sure of working in the right direction. Long 
sounding lines were sunk in the side walls, but after 
fifteen yards they were again stopped by the thick 


UNDER THE SEA 


359 


wall. It was useless to attack it on the ceiling-like 
surface, since the iceberg itself measured more than 
400 yards in height. Captain Nemo then sounded 
the lower surface. There ten yards of wall separated 
us from the water, so great was the thickness of the 
ice-field. It was necessary, therefore, to cut from it 
a piece equal in extent to the waterline of the Nautilus, 
There were about 6000 cubic yards to detach, so as 
to dig a hole by which we could descend to the ice- 
field. The work was begun immediately, and carried 
on with indefatigable energy. Instead of digging 
round the Nautilus, which would have involved greater 
difficulty. Captain Nemo had an immense trench made 
at eight yards from the port quarter. Then the men 
set to work simultaneously with their screws, on 
several points of its circumference. Presently the 
pickaxe attacked this compact matter vigorously, and 
large blocks were detached from the mass. By a 
curious effect of specific gravity, these blocks, lighter 
than water, fled, so to speak, to the vault of the tunnel, 
that increased in thickness at the top in proportion 
as it diminished at the base. But that mattered little, 
so long as the lower part grew thinner. After two 
hours’ hard work, Ned Land came in exhausted. He 
and his comrades were replaced by new workers, whom 
Conseil and I joined. The second lieutenant of the 
Nautilus superintended us. The water seemed singu- 
larly cold, but I soon got warm handling the pickaxe. 
My movements were free enough, although they were 
made under a pressure of thirty atmospheres. When 
I re-entered, after working two hours, to take some 
food and rest, I found a perceptible difference between 
the pure fluid with which the Rouquayrol engine 


3^0 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


supplied me, and the atmosphere of the Nautilus, al- 
ready charged with carbonic acid. The air had not 
been renewed for forty-eight hours, and its vivifying 
qualities were considerably enfeebled. However, after 
a lapse of twelve hours, we had only raised a block of 
ice one yard thick, on the marked surface, which was 
about 6000 cubic yards ! Reckoning that it took twelve 
hours to accomplish this much, it would take five 
nights and four days to bring this enterprise to a 
satisfactory conclusion. Five nights and four days ! 
And we have only air enough for two days in the 
reservoirs ! Without taking into account,” said Ned, 

that, even if we get out of this infernal prison, we 
shall also be imprisoned under the iceberg, shut out 
from all possible communication with the atmosphere.” 
True enough! Who could then foresee the minimum 
of time necessary for our deliverance? We might be 
sufifocated before the Nautilus could regain the surface 
of the waves? Was it destined to perish in this ice- 
tomb, with all those it enclosed? The situation was 
terrible. But every one had looked the danger in 
the face, and each was determined to do his duty to 
the last. 

As I expected, during the night a new block a yard 
square was carried away, and still further sank the 
immense hollow. But in the morning when, dressed 
in my cork- jacket, I traversed the slushy mass at a 
temperature of six or seven degrees below zero, T 
remarked that the side walls were gradually closing 
in. The beds of water farthest from the trench, that 
were not warmed by the men’s mere work, showed a 
tendency to solidification. In presence of this new 
and imminent danger, what would become of our 


UNDER THE SEA 


361 


chances of safety, and how hinder the solidification 
of this liquid medium, that would burst the partitions 
of the Nautilus like glass? 

I did not tell my companions of this new danger. 
What was the good of dampening the energy they 
displayed in the painful work of escape? But when I 
went on board again, I told Captain Nemo of this 
grave complication. 

I know it,” he said, in that calm tone which could 
counteract the most terrible apprehensions. “ It is 
one danger more ; but I see no way of escaping it ; the 
only chance of safety is to go quicker than solidifica- 
tion. We must be beforehand with it, that is all.” 

On this day for several hours I used my pickaxe 
vigorously. The work kept me up. Besides, to work 
was to quit the Nautilus, and breathe directly the 
pure air drawn from the reservoirs, and suppiled by 
our apparatus, and to quit the impoverished and 
vitiated atmosphere. Towards evening the trench was 
dug one yard deeper. When I returned on board, I 
was nearly suffocated by the carbonic acid with which 
the air was filled — ah! if we had only the chemical 
means to drive away this deleterious gas. We had 
plenty of oxygen; all this water contained a con- 
siderable quantity, and by dissolving it with our power- 
ful piles, it would restore the vivifying fluid. I had 
thought well over it ; but of what good was that, since 
the carbonic acid produced by our respiration had in- 
vaded every part of the vessel? To absorb it, it was 
necessary to fill some jars with caustic potash, and to 
shake them incessantly. Now this substance was 
wanting on board, and nothing could replace it. On 
that evening. Captain Nemo ought to open the taps 


3^2 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of his reservoirs, and let some pure air into the interior 
of the Nautilus; without this precaution, we could not 
get rid of the sense of suffocation. The next day, 
March 26th, I resumed my miner’s work in beginning 
the fifth yard. The side walls and the lower surface 
of the iceberg thickened visibly. It was evident that 
they would meet before the Nautilus was able to dis- 
engage itself. Despair seized me for an instant, my 
pickaxe nearly fell from my hands. What was the 
good of digging if I must be suffocated, crushed by 
the water that was turning into stone? — a punish- 
ment that the ferocity of the savages even would not 
have invented! Just then Captain Nemo passed near 
me. I touched his hand and showed him the walls of 
our prison. The wall to port had advanced to at 
least four yards from the hull of the Nautilus, The 
Captain understood me, and signed to me to follow 
him. We went on board. I took off my cork- jacket, 
and accompanied him into the drawing-room. 

“ M. Aronnax, we must attempt some desperate 
means, or we shall be sealed up in this solidified water 
as in cement.” 

“ Yes; but what is to be done? ” 

“Ah! if my Ncmtilus were strong enough to bear 
this pressure without being crushed ! ” 

“ Well ?” I asked, not catching the Captain’s idea. 

“Do you not understand,” he replied, “that this 
congelation of water will help us? Do you not see 
that, by its solidification, it would burst through this 
field of ice that imprisons us, as, when it freezes, it 
bursts the hardest stones? Do you not perceive that 
it would be an agent of safety instead of destruc- 
tion?” 


UNDER THE SEA 


363 


“Yes, Captain, perhaps. But whatever resistance to 
crushing the Nautilus possesses, it could not support 
this terrible pressure, and would be flattened like an 
iron plate.” 

“ I know it, sir. Therefore we must not reckon on 
the aid of nature, but on our own exertions. We must 
stop this solidification. Not only will the side walls 
be pressed together ; but there is not ten feet of water 
before or behind the Nautilus, The congelation gains 
on us on all sides.” 

“ How long will the air in the reservoirs last for 
us to breathe on board ? ” 

The Captain looked in my face. “ After to-morrow 
they will be empty ! ” 

A cold sweat came over me. However, ought I to 
have been astonished at the answer? On March 22d, 
the Nautilus was in the open polar seas. We were at 
26°. For five days we had lived on the reserve on 
board. And what was left of the respirable air must 
be kept for the workers. Even now, as I write, my 
recollection is still so vivid, that an involuntary terror 
seizes me, and my lungs seem to be without air. 
Meanwhile Captain Nemo reflected silently, and evi- 
dently an idea had struck him; but he seemed to 
reject it. At last, these words escaped his lips— 

“ Boling water ! ” he muttered. 

“ Boiling water ?” I cried. 

“ Yes, sir. We are enclosed in a space that is rela- 
tively confined. Would not jets of boiling water, 
constantly injected by the pumps, raise the tempera- 
ture in this part, and stay the congelation ? ” 

“ Let us try it,” I said, resolutely. 

“ Let us try, Professor.” 


364 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


The thermometer then stood at seven degrees out- 
side. Captain Nemo took me to the galleys, where the 
vast distillatory machines stood that furnished the 
drinkable water by evaporation. They filled these 
with water, and all the electric heat from the piles was 
thrown through the worms bathed in the liquid. In 
a few minutes this water reached a hundred degrees. 
It was directed towards the pumps, while fresh water 
replaced it in proportion. The heat developed by the 
troughs was such that cold water, drawn up from the 
sea, after only having gone through the machines, 
came boiling into the body of the pump. The injec- 
tion was begun, and three hours after the thermometer 
marked six degrees below zero outside. One degree 
was gained. Two hours later, the thermometer only 
marked four degrees. 

“We shall succeed,” I said to the Captain, after 
having anxiously watched the result of the operation. 

“ I think,” he answered, “ that we shall not be 
crushed. We have no more suffocation to fear.” 

During the night the temperature of the water rose 
to one degree below zero. The injections could not 
carry it to a higher point. But as the congelation of 
the sea-water produces at least two degrees, I was at 
last reassured against the dangers of solidification. 

The next day, March 27th, six yards of ice had been 
cleared, four yards only remaining to be cleared away. 
There was yet forty-eight hours’ work. The air could 
not be renewed in the interior of the Nautilus. And 
this day would make it worse. An intolerable weight 
oppressed me. Towards three o’clock in the evening, 
this feeling rose to a violent degree. Yawns dislocated 
my jaws. My lungs panted as they inhaled this burn- 


UNDER TÎIE SEA 


36s 

ing fluid, which became rarefied more and more. A 
moral torpor took hold of me. I was powerless, almost 
unconscious. My brave Conseil, though exhibiting the 
same symptoms and suffering in the same manner, 
never left me. He took my hand and encouraged me, 
and I heard him murmur, “ Oh ! if I could only not 
breathe, so as to leave more air for my master ! ” 

Tears came into my eyes on hearing him speak thus. 
If our situation to all was intolerable in the interior, 
with what haste and gladness would we put on our 
cork- jackets to work in our turn! Pickaxes sounded 
on the frozen ice-beds. Our arms ached, the skin was 
torn off our hands. But what were these fatigues, 
what did the wounds matter? Vital air came to the 
lungs ! we breathed ! we breathed ! 

All this time, no one prolonged his voluntary task 
beyond the prescribed time. His task accomplished, 
each one handed in turn to his panting companions the 
apparatus that supplied him with life. Captain Nemo 
set the example, and submitted first to this severe dis- 
cipline. When the time came, he gave up his apparatus 
to another, and returned to the vitiated air on board, 
calm, unflinching, unmurmuring. 

On that day the ordinary work was accomplished 
with unusual vigour. Only two yards remained to be 
raised from the surface. Two yards only separated 
us from the open sea. But the reservoirs were nearly 
emptied of air. The little that remained ought to be 
kept for the workers ; not a particle for the Nautilus. 
When I went back on board, I was half suffocated. 
What a night! I know not how to describe it. The 
next day my breathing was oppressed. Dizziness ac- 
companied the pain in my head, and made me like a 


366 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


drunken man. My companions showed the same symp- 
toms. Some of the crew had rattling in the throat. 

On that day, the sixth of our imprisonment. Captain 
Nemo, finding the pickaxes work too slowly, resolved 
to crush the ice-bed that still separated us from the 
liquid sheet. This man’s coolness and energy never 
forsook him. He subdued his physical pains by moral 
force. 

By his orders the vessel was lightened, that is to 
say, raised from the ice-bed by a change of specific 
gravity. When it floated they towed it so as to bring 
it above the immense trench made on the level of the 
water-line. Then filling his reservoirs of water, he 
descended and shut himself up in the hole. 

Just then all the crew came on board, and the double 
door of communication was shut. The Nautilus then 
rested on the bed of ice, which was not one yard thick, 
and which the sounding leads had perforated in a 
thousand places. The taps of the reservoir were then 
opened, and a hundred cubic yards of water was let 
in, increasing the weight of the Nautilus 1800 tons. 
We waited, we listened, forgetting our sufferings in 
hope. Our safety depended on this last chance. Not- 
withstanding the buzzing in my head, I soon heard the 
humming sound under the hull of the Ncmtilus. The 
ice cracked with a singular noise, like tearing paper, 
and the Nautilus sank. 

We are off ! ” murmured Conseil in my ear. 

I could not answer him. I seized his hand, and 
pressed it convulsively. All at once, carried away by 
its frightful overcharge, the Nautilus sank like a bullet 
under the waters, that is to say, it fell as if it were in 
a vacuum. Then all the electric force was put on the 


UNDER THE SEA 


367 


thoi) soon began to let the water out of the 
re?r Y0^73. After some minutes, our fall was stopped. 
Soor., too, the manometer indicated an ascending 
movement. The screw, going at full speed, made the 
iron hull tremble to its very bolts, and drew us towards 
the north. But if this floating under the iceberg is to 
last another day tvefore we reach the open sea, I shall 
be dead first. 

Half stretched upon a divan in the library, I was 
suffocating. My f ice was purple, my lips blue, my 
faculties suspended, I neither saw nor heard. All 
notion of time had gone from my mind. My muscles 
could not contract. I do not know how many hours 
passed thus, but I was conscious of the agony that 
was coming over me. I felt as if I was going to die. 
Suddenly I came to. Some breaths of air penetrated 
my lungs. Had we risen to the surface of the waves? 
Were we free of the iceberg? No; Ned and Conseil, 
my two brave friends, were sacrificing themselves to 
save me. Some particles of air still remained at the 
bottom of one apparatus. Instead of using it, they had 
kept it for me, and while they were being suffocated, 
they gave me life drop by drop. I wanted to push back 
the thing ; they held my hands, and for some moments 
I breathed freely. I looked at the clock ; it was eleven 
in the morning. It ought to be the 28th of March. 
The Nautilus went at a frightful pace, forty miles an 
hour. It literally tore through the water. Where was 
Captain Nemo? Had he succumbed? Were his com- 
panions dead with him ? At the moment, the manom- 
eter indicated that we were not more than twenty feet 
from the surface. A mere plate of ice separated us 
from the atmosphere, could we not break it? Perhaps. 


368 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


In any case the Nautilus was going to attempt it. I 
felt that it was in an oblique position, lowering the 
stern, and raising the bows. The introduction of water 
had been the means of disturbing its equilibrium. 
Then, impelled by its powerful screw, it attacked the 
ice-field from beneath like a formidable battering-ram. 
It broke it by backing and then rushing forward against 
the field, which gradually gave way ; and at last, dash- 
ing suddenly against it, shot forwards on the icy field, 
that crushed beneath its weight. The panel was opened 
— one might say torn off — and the pure air came in in 
abundance to all parts of the Nautilus* 


CHAPTER XVII 


IFROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON 

How I got on to the platform, I have no idea : perhaps 
the Canadian had carried me there. But I breathed, 
I inhaled the vivifying sea-air. My two companions 
were getting drunk with the fresh particles. The other 
unhappy men had been so long without food, that they 
could not with impunity indulge in the simplest ali- 
ments that were given them. We, on the contrary, 
had no need to restrain ourselves ; we could draw this 
air freely into our lungs, and it was the breeze, the 
breeze alone, that filled us with this keen enjoyment. 

“ Ah ! ” said Conseil, how delightful this oxygen 
is! Master need not fear to breathe it. There is 
enough for everybody.” 

Ned Land did not speak, but he opened his jaws 
wide enough to frighten a shark. Our strength soon 
returned, and when I looked round me, I saw we were 
alone on the platform. The foreign seamen in the 
Nautilus were contented with the air that circulated 
in the interior ; none of them had come to drink in the 
open air. 

The first words I spoke were words of gratitude and 
thankfulness to my two companions. Ned and Conseil 
had prolonged my life during the last hours of this 
long agony. All my gratitude could not repay such 
devotion. 


370 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ My friends,” said I, we are bound one to the 
other for ever, and I am under infinite obligations to 
you.” 

‘‘ Which I shall take advantage of,” exclaimed the 
Canadian. 

“ What do you mean ? ” said Conseil. 

“ I mean that I shall take you with me when I leave 
this infernal Nautilus” 

Well,” said Conseil, '' after all this, are we going 
right?” 

“ Yes,” I replied, “ for we are going the way of the 
sun, and here the sun is in the north.” 

“ No doubt,” said Ned Land ; but it remains to be 
seen whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or 
the Atlantic Ocean, that is, into frequented or deserted 
seas.” 

I could not answer that question, and I feared that 
Captain Nemo would rather take us to the vast ocean 
that touches the coasts of Asia and America at the 
same time. He would thus complete the tour round 
the submarine world, and return to those waters in 
which the Nautilus could sail freely. We ought, before 
long, to settle this important point. The Nautilus went 
at a rapid pace. The polar circle was soon passed, and 
the course shaped for Cape Horn. We were off the 
American point, March 31st, at seven o’clock in the 
evening. Then all our past sufferings were forgotten. 
The remembrance of that imprisonment in the ice was 
effaced from our minds. We only thought of the 
future. Captain Nemo did not appear again either 
in the drawing-room or on the platform. The point 
shown each day on the planisphere, and marked by 
the lieutenant, showed me the exact direction of the 


UNDER THE SEA 


371 


Nautilus. Now, on that evening, it was evident, to 
my great satisfaction, that we were going back to the 
north by the Atlantic. The next day, April ist, when 
the Nautilus ascended to the surface, some minutes 
before noon, we sighted land to the west. It was Terra 
del Fuego, which the first navigators named thus from 
seeing the quantity of smoke that rose from the natives’ 
huts. The coast seemed low to me, but in the distance 
rose high mountains. I even thought I had a glimpse 
of Mount Sarmiento, that rises 2070 yards above the 
level of the sea, with a very pointed summit, which, 
according as it is misty or clear, is a sign of fine or 
wet weather. At this moment, the peak was clearly 
defined against the sky. The Nautilus^ diving again 
under the water, approached the coast, which was only 
come few miles off. From the glass windows in the 
drawing-room, I saw long seaweeds, and gigantic 
fuci, and varech, of which the open polar sea contains 
so many specimens, with their sharp polished filaments ; 
they measured about 300 yards in length, — real cables, 
thicker than one’s thumb; and having great tenacity, 
they are often used as ropes for vessels. Another weed 
known as velp, with leaves four feet long, buried in the 
coral concretions, hung at the bottom. It served as 
nest and food for myriads of Crustacea and molluscs, 
crabs and cuttle-fish. There seals and otters had 
splendid repasts, eating the flesh of fish with sea- 
vegetables, according to the English fashion. Over 
this fertile and luxuriant ground the Nautilus passed 
with great rapidity. Towards evening, it approached 
the Falkland group, the rough summits of which I 
recognised the following day. The depth of the sea 
was moderate. On the shores, our nets brought in 


372 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


beautiful specimens of seaweed, and particularly a 
certain fucus, the roots of which were filled with the 
best mussels in the world. Geese and ducks fell by 
dozens on the platform, and soon took their places in 
the pantry on board. With regard to fish, I observed 
especially specimens of the goby species, some two 
feet long, all over white and yellow spots. I admired 
also numerous medusæ, and the finest of the sort, the 
crysaora, peculiar to the sea about the Falkland Isles. 
I should have liked to preserve some specimens of 
these delicate zoophytes : but they are only like clouds, 
shadows, apparitions, that sink and evaporate, when 
out of their native element. 

When the last heights of the Falklands had disap- 
peared from the horizon, the Nautilus sank to between 
twenty and twenty-five yards, and followed the Amer- 
ican coast. Captain Nemo did not show himself. Until 
the 3d of April we did not quit the shores of Pata- 
gonia, sometimes under the ocean, sometimes at the 
surface. The Nautilus passed beyond the large estuary 
formed by the mouth of the Plata, and was, on the 4th 
of April, fifty-six miles off Uruguay. Its direction 
was northwards, and followed the long windings of the 
coast of South America. We had then made 1600 miles 
since our embarkation in the seas of Japan. About 
eleven o’clock in the morning the tropic of Capricorn 
was crossed on the thirty-seventh meridian, and we 
passed Cape Frio standing out to sea. Captain Nemo, 
to Ned Land’s great displeasure, did not like the neigh- 
bourhood of the inhabited coasts of Brazil, for we 
went at a giddy speed. Not a fish, not a bird of the 
swiftest kind could follow us, and the natural curiosi- 
ties of these seas escaped all observation. 


UNDER THE SEA 


373 


This speed was kept up for several days, and in the 
evening of the 9th of April we sighted the most west- 
erly point of South America that forms Cape San 
Roque. But then the Nautilus swerved again, and 
sought the lowest depth of a submarine valley which is 
between this cape and Sierra Leone on the African 
coast. This valley bifurcates to the parallel of the 
Antilles, and terminates at the north by the enormous 
depression of 9000 yards. In this place, the geological 
basin of the ocean forms, as far as the Lesser Antilles, 
a cliff of three and a half miles perpendicular in 
height, and at the parallel of the Cape Verde Islands, 
another wall not less considerable, that encloses thus 
all the sunk continent of the Atlantic. The bottom of 
this immense valley is dotted with some mountains, 
that give to these submarine places a picturesque 
aspect. I speak, moreover, from the manuscript charts 
that were in the library of the Nautilus — charts evi- 
dently due to Captain Nemo’s hand, and made after 
his personal observations. For two days the desert 
and deep waters were visited by means of the inclined 
planes. The Nautilus was furnished with long diag- 
onal broadsides which carried it to all elevations. But, 
on the nth of April, it rose suddenly, and land ap- 
peared at the mouth of the Amazon River, a vast 
estuary, the embouchure of which is so considerable 
that it freshens the sea-water for the distance of several 
leagues. 

The equator was crossed. Twenty miles to the west 
were the Guianas, a French territory, on which we 
could have found an easy refuge; but a stiff breeze 
was blowing, and the furious waves would not have 
allowed a single boat to face them. Ned Land under- 


374 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


stood that, no doubt, for he spoke not a word about 
it. For my part, I made no allusion to his schemes 
of flight, for I would not urge him to make an attempt 
that must inevitably fail. I made the time pass pleas- 
antly by interesting studies. During the days of April 
nth and 12th, the Nautilus did not leave the surface 
of the sea, and the net brought in a marvellous haul of 
zoophytes, fish and reptiles. Some zoophytes had been 
fished up by the chain of the nets; they were for the 
most part beautiful phyctallines, belonging to the acti- 
nidian family, and among other species the phyctalis 
protexta, peculiar to that part of the ocean, with a 
little cylindrical trunk, ornamented with vertical lines, 
speckled with red dots, crowning a marvellous blossom- 
ing of tentacles. As to the molluscs, they consisted of 
some I had already observed — turritellas, olive por- 
phyras, with regular lines intercrossed, with red spots 
standing out plainly against the flesh ; odd pteroceras, 
like petrified scorpions; translucid hyaleas, argonauts, 
cuttle-fish (excellent eating), and certain species of 
calmars that naturalists of antiquity have classed 
amongst the flying-fish, and that serve principally for 
bait for cod-fishing. I had not an opportunity of 
studying several species of fish on these shores. 
Amongst the cartilaginous ones, petromyzons-pricka, 
a sort of eel, fifteen inches long, with a greenish head, 
violet fins, grey-blue back, brown belly, silvered and 
sown with bright spots, the pupil of the eye encircled 
with gold — a curious animal, that the current of the 
Amazon had drawn to the sea, for they inhabit fresh 
waters — tuberculated streaks, with pointed snouts, and 
a long loose tail, armed with a long jagged sting; little 
sharks, a yard long, grey and whitish skin, and several 


UNDER THE SEA 


375 


rows of teeth, bent back, that are generally known by 
the name of pantouffles; vespertilios, a kind of red 
isosceles triangle, half a yard long, to which pectorals 
are attached by fleshy prolongations that make them 
look like bats, but that their horny appendage, situated 
near the nostrils, has given them the name of sea- 
unicorns; lastly, some species of balistæ, the curassa- 
vian, whose spots were of a brilliant gold colour, and 
the capriscus of clear violet, and with varying shades 
like a pigeon’s throat. 

I end here this catalogue, which is somewhat dry 
perhaps, but very exact, with a series of bony fish that 
I observed in passing belonging to the apteronotes, and 
whose snout is white as snow, the body of a beautiful 
black, marked with a very long loose fleshy strip; 
odontognathes, armed with spikes ; sardines, nine 
inches long, glittering with a bright silver light; a 
species of mackerel provided with two anal fins ; cen- 
tronotes of a blackish tint, that are fished for with 
torches, long fish, two yards in length, with fat flesh, 
white and firm, which, when they are fresh, taste like 
eel, and when dry, like smoked salmon; labres, half 
red, covered with scales only at the bottom of the 
dorsal and anal fins; chrysoptera, on which gold and 
silver blend their brightness with that of the ruby and 
topaz; golden-tailed spares, the flesh of which is ex- 
tremely delicate, and whose phosphorescent properties 
betray them in the midst of the waters; orange- 
coloured spares with a long tongues; maigres, with 
gold caudal fins, dark thorn-tails, anableps of Surinam, 
ete. 

Notwithstanding this “ et cetera,”! must not omit to 
mention fish that Conseil will long remember, and with 


376 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


good reason. One of our nets had hauled up a sort 
of very flat rayfish, which, with the tail cut ofif, formed 
a perfect disc, and weighed twenty ounces. It was 
white underneath, red above, with large round spots 
of dark blue encircled with black, very glossy skin, 
terminating in a bilobed fin. Laid out on the platform, 
it struggled, tried to turn itself by convulsive move- 
ments, and made so many efforts, that one last turn 
had nearly sent it into the sea. But Conseil, not wish- 
ing to let the fish go, rushed to it, and, before I could 
prevent him, had seized it with both hands. In a 
moment he was overthrown, his legs in the air, and 
half his body paralysed, crying — 

** Oh ! master, master ! come to me ! ” 

It was the first time the poor boy had not spoken to 
me in the third person. The Canadian and I took him 
up, and rubbed his contracted arms till he became sen- 
sible. The unfortunate Conseil had attacked a cramp- 
fish of the most dangerous kind, the cumana. This 
odd animal, in a medium conductor like water, strikes 
fish at several yards' distance, so great is the power 
of its electric organ, the two principal surfaces of 
which do not measure less than twenty-seven square 
feet. The next day, April 12th, the Nautilus ap- 
proached the Dutch coast, near the mouth of the 
Maroni. There several groups of sea-cows herded 
together; they were manatees, that, like the dugong 
and the stellera, belong to the sirenian order. These 
beautiful animals, peaceable and inoffensive, from 
eighteen to twenty-one feet in length, weigh at least 
sixteen hundredweight. I told Ned Land and Conseil 
that provident nature had assigned an important rôle 
to these mammalia. Indeed, they, like the seals, are 


UNDER THE SEA • 


37/ 


designed to graze on the submarine prairies, and thus 
destroy the accumulation of weed that obstructs the 
tropical rivers. 

** And do you know,” I added, '' what has been the 
result since men have almost entirely annihilated this 
useful race? That the putrefied weeds have poisoned 
the air, and the poisoned air causes the yellow fever, 
that desolates these beautiful countries. Enormous 
vegetations are multiplied under the torrid seas, and 
the evil is irresistibly developed from the mouth of 
the Rio de la Plata to Florida. If we are to believe 
Toussenel, this plague ii nothing to what it would be 
if the seas were cleared of whales and seals. Then, 
infested with poulps, medusæ, and cuttle-fish, they 
would become immense centres of infection, since their 
waves would not possess ‘ these vast stomachs that God 
had charged to infest the surface of the seas.’ ” 

However, without disputing these theories, the crew 
of the Nautilus took possession of half a dozen mana- 
tees. They provisioned the larders with excellent flesh, 
superior to beef and veal. This sport was not inter- 
esting. The manatees allowed themselves to be hit 
without defending themselves. Several thousand 
pounds of meat were stored up on board to be dried. 
On this day, a successful haul of fish increased the 
stores of the Nautilus, so full of game were these seas. 
They were echeneides belonging to the third family 
of the malacopterygiens ; their flattened discs were 
composed of transverse movable cartilaginous plates, 
by which the animal was enabled to create a vacuum, 
and so to adhere to any object like a cupping-glass. 
The remora that I had observed in the Mediterranean 
belongs to this species. But the one of which we are 


378 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


speaking was the echeneis osteochera, peculiar to this 
sea. 

The fishing over, the Nautilus neared the coast. 
About here a number of sea-turtles were sleeping on 
the surface of the water. It would have been difficult 
to capture these precious reptiles, for the least noise 
awakens them, and their solid shell is proof against 
the harpoon. But the echeneis effects their capture 
with extraordinary precision and certainty. This ani- 
mal is, indeed, a living fishhook, which would make the 
fortune of an inexperienced fisherman. The crew of 
the Nautilus tied a ring to the tail of these fish, so 
large as not to encumber their movements, and to this 
ring a long cord, lashed to the ship’s side by the other 
end. The echeneids, thrown into the sea, directly 
began their game, and fixed themselves to the breast- 
plate of the turtles. Their tenacity was such, that 
they were torn rather than let go their hold. The 
men hauled them on board, and with them the turtles 
to which they adhered. They took also several 
cacouannes a yard long, which weighed 400 lbs. Their 
carapace covered with large horny plates, thin, trans- 
parent, brown, with white and yellow spots, fetch a 
good price in the market. Besides, they were excellent 
in an edible point of view, as well as the fresh turtles, 
which have an exquisite flavour. This day’s fishing 
brought to a close our stay on the shores of the Ama- 
zon, and by nightfall the Nautilus had regained the 
high seas. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE POULPS 

For several days the Nautilus kept off from the Amer- 
ican coast. Evidently it did not wish to risk the tides 
of the Gulf of Mexico, or of the sea of the Antilles. 
April 1 6th, we sighted Martinique and Guadaloupe 
from a distance of about thirty miles. I saw their tall 
peaks for an instant. The Canadian, who counted on 
carrying out his projects in the Gulf, by either landing, 
or hailing one of the numerous boats that coast from 
one island to another, was quite disheartened. Flight 
would have been quite practicable, if Ned Land had 
been able to take possession of the boat without the 
Captain’s knowledge. But in the open sea it could 
not be thought of. The Canadian, Conseil, and I, had 
a long conversation on this subject. For six months 
we had been prisoners on board the Nautilus. We 
had travelled 17,000 leagues; and, as Ned Land said, 
there was no reason why it should not come to an 
end. We could hope nothing from the Captain of the 
Nautilus, but only from ourselves. Besides, for some 
time past he had become graver, more retired, less 
sociable. He seemed to shun me. I met him rarely. 
Formerly, he was pleased to explain the submarine 
marvels to me; now, he left me to my studies, and 
came no more to the saloon. What change had come 
over him? For what cause? For my part, I did not 


38 o 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


wish to bury with me my curious and novel studies. 
I had now the power to write the true book of the 
sea; and this book, sooner or later, I wished to see 
daylight. Then again, in the water by the Antilles, 
ten yards below the surface of the waters, by the open 
panels, what interesting products I had to enter on my 
daily notes! There were, among other zoophytes, 
those known under the name of physalis pelagica, a 
sort of large oblong bladder, with mother-of-pearl rays, 
holding out their membranes to the wind, and letting 
their blue tentacles float like threads of silk ; charming 
medusae to the eye, real nettles to the touch, that distil 
a corrosive fluid. There were also annelides, a yard 
and a half long, furnished with a pink horn, and with 
1700 locomotive organs, that wind through the waters, 
and throw out in passing all the light of the solar 
spectrum. There were, in the fish category, some 
Malabar rays, enormous gristly things, ten feet long, 
weighing 600 pounds, the pectoral fin triangular in the 
midst of a slightly humped back, the eyes fixed in the 
extremities of the face, beyond the head, and which 
floated like weft, and looked sometimes like an opaque 
shutter on our glass window. There were American 
balistæ, which nature has only dressed in black and 
white; gobies, with yellow fins and prominent jaw; 
mackerel sixteen feet long, with short-pointed teeth, 
covered with small scales, belonging to the albicore 
species. Then, in swarms, appeared grey mullet, cov- 
ered with stripes of gold from the head to the tail, 
beating their resplendent fins, like masterpieces of 
jewellery, consecrated formerly to Diana, particularly 
sought after by rich Romans, and of which the 
proverb says, “ Whoever takes them does not eat 


UNDER THE SEA 


381 


them.” Lastly, pomacanthe dorees, ornamented with 
emerald bands, dressed in velvet and silk, passed before 
our eyes like Veronese lords; spurred spari passed with 
their pectoral fins ; clupanodons fifteen inches long, en- 
veloped in their phosphorescent light; mullet beat the 
sea with their large jagged tails; red vendaces seemed 
to mow the waves with their showy pectoral fins ; and 
silvery selenes, worthy of their name, rose on the hori- 
zon of the waters like so many moons with whitish 
rays. April 20th, we had risen to a mean height of 
1500 yards. The land nearest us then was the archi- 
pelago of the Bahamas. There rose high submarine 
cliffs covered with large weeds, giant laminariæ and 
fuci, a perfect espalier of hydrophytes worthy of a 
Titan world. It was about eleven o’clock when Ned 
Land drew my attention to a formidable pricking, like 
the sting of an ant, which was produced by means of 
large seaweeds. 

'' Well,” I said, “ these are proper caverns for 
poulps, and I should not be astonished to see some of 
these monsters.” 

“ What ! ” said Conseil ; ** cuttle-fish, real cuttle-fish, 
of the cephalopod class ? ” 

No,” I said ; poulps of huge dimensions.” 

“ I will never believe that such animals exist,” said 
Ned. 

“ Well,” said Conseil, with the most serious air in 
the world ; I remember perfectly to have seen a large 
vessel drawn under the waves by a cephalopod’s arm.” 

“ You saw that ? ” said the Canadian. 

Yes, Ned.” 

With your own eyes?” 

With my own eyes.” 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Where, pray, might that be ? ” 

At St. Malo,” answered Conseil. 

In the port ? ” said Ned, ironically. 

No ; in a church,” replied Conseil. 

“ In a church ! ” cried the Canadian. 

“Yes; friend Ned. In a picture representing the 
poulp in question.” 

“ Good ! ” said Ned Land, bursting out laughing. 

“ He is quite right,” I said. “ I have heard of this 
picture; but the subject represented is taken from a 
legend, and you know what to think of legends in the 
matter of natural history. Besides, when it is a ques- 
tion of monsters, the imagination is apt to run wild. 
Not only is it supposed that these poulps can draw 
down vessels, but a certain Olaüs Magnus speaks of 
a cephalopod a mile long, that is more like an island 
than an animal. It is also said that the Bishop of 
Nidros was building an altar on an immense rock. 
Mass finished, the rock began to walk, and returned 
to the sea. The rock was a poulp. Another bishop, 
Pontoppidan, speaks also of a poulp on which a regi- 
ment of cavalry could manœuvre. Lastly, the ancient 
naturalists speak of monsters whose mouths were like 
gulfs, and which were too large to pass through the 
Straits of Gibraltar.” 

“But how much is true of these stories?” asked 
Conseil. 

“ Nothing, my friends ; at least of that which passes 
the limit of truth to get to fable or legend. Neverthe- 
less, there must be some ground for the imagination 
of the story-tellers. One cannot deny that poulps and 
cuttle-fish exist of a large species, inferior, however, 
to the cetaceans. Aristotle has stated the dimensions 


UNDER THE SEA 


383 


of a cuttle-fish as five cubits, or nine feet two inches. 
Our fishermen frequently see some that are more than 
four feet long. Some skeletons of poulps are preserved 
in the museums of Trieste and Montpelier, that meas- 
ure two yards in length. Besides, according to the 
calculations of some naturalists, one of these animals, 
only six feet long, would have tentacles twenty-seven 
feet long. That would suffice to make a formidable 
monster.” 

“ Do they fish for them in these days? ” asked Ned. 

If they do not fish for them, sailors see them at 
least. One of my friends. Captain Paul Bos of Havre, 
has often affirmed that he met one of these monsters, 
of colossal dimensions, in the Indian seas. But the 
most astonishing fact, and which does not permit of 
the denial of the existence of these gigantic animals, 
happened some years ago, in 1861.” 

What is the fact? ” asked Ned Land. 

“ This is it. In 1861, to the north-east of Teneriffe, 
very nearly in the same latitude we are in now, the 
crew of the despatch-boat Alector perceived a mon- 
strous cuttle-fish swimming in the waters. Captain 
Bouguer went near to the animal, and attacked it with 
harpoons and guns, without much success, for balls 
and harpoons glided over the soft flesh. After several 
fruitless attempts, the crew tried to pass a slip-knot 
round the body of the mollusc. The noose slipped as 
far as the caudal fins, and there stopped. They tried 
then to haul it on board, but its weight was so consid- 
erable that the tightness of the cord separated the tail 
from the body, and, deprived of this ornament, he 
disappeared under the water.” 

“ Indeed ! is that a fact ? ” 


384 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


‘‘ An indisputable fact, my good Ned. They pro- 
posed to name this poulp ^ Bouguer’s cuttle-fish.' ” 

“ What length was it ? ” asked the Canadian. 

Did it not measure about six yards ? ” said Conseil, 
who, posted at the window, was examining again the 
irregular windings of the cliff. 

“ Precisely,” I replied. 

“ Its head,” rejoined Conseil, “ was it not crowned 
with eight tentacles, that beat the water like a nest 
of serpents ? ” 

“ Precisely.” 

“ Had not its eyes, placed at the back of its head, 
considerable development ? ” 

“ Yes, Conseil.” 

And was not its mouth like a parrot's beak ? ” 

Exactly, Conseil.” 

“ Very well ! no offence to master,” he replied, 
quietly ; “ if this is not Bouguer’s cuttle-fish, it is, at 
least, one of its brothers.” 

I looked at Conseil. Ned hurried to the window. 

“ What a horrible beast ! ” he cried. 

I looked in my turn, and could not repress a gesture 
of disgust. Before my eyes was a horrible monster, 
worthy to figure in the legends of the marvellous. 
It was an immense cuttle-fish, being eight yards long. 
It swam crossways in the direction of the Nautilus 
with great speed, watching us with its enormous star- 
ing green eyes. Its eight arms, or rather feet, fixed to 
its head, that have given the name of cephalopod to 
these animals, were twice as long as its body, and were 
twisted like the furies' hair. One could see the 250 
air-holes on the inner side of the tentacles. The mon- 
ster's mouth, a horned beak like a parrot's, opened and 


UNDER THE SEA 


38s 


shut vertically. Its tongue, a horned substance, fur- 
nished with several rows of pointed teeth, came out 
quivering from this veritable pair of shears. What 
a freak of nature, a bird’s beak on a mollusc! Its 
spindle-like body formed a fleshy mass that might 
weigh 4000 to 5000 lbs. ; the varying colour changing 
with great rapidity, according to the irritation of the 
animal, passed successively from livid grey to reddish 
brown. What irritated this mollusc? No doubt the 
presence of the Nautilus, more formidable than itself, 
and on which its suckers or its jaws had no hold. 
Yet, what monsters these poulps are ! what vitality the 
Creator has given them! what vigour in their move- 
ments! and they possess three hearts! Chance had 
brought us in presence of this cuttle-fish, and I did not 
wish to lose the opportunity of carefully studying this 
specimen of cephalopods. I overcame the horror that 
inspired me ; and, taking a pencil, began to draw it. 

“ Perhaps this is the same which the Alector saw,’' 
said Conseil. 

“ No,” replied the Canadian ; ‘‘ for this is whole, and 
the other had lost its tail.” 

“ That is no reason,” I replied. ‘‘ The arms and 
tails of these animals are reformed by redintegration; 
and, in seven years, the tail of Bouguer’s cuttle-fish has 
no doubt had time to grow.” 

By this time other poulps appeared at the port light. 
I counted seven. They formed a procession after the 
Nautilus, and I heard their beaks gnashing against 
the iron hull. I continued my work. These monsters 
kept in the water with such precision, that they seemed 
immovable. Suddenly the Nautilus stopped. A shock 
made it tremble in every plate. 


386 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ Have we struck anything ?” I asked. 

“ In any case,” replied the Canadian, “ we shall be 
free, for we are floating.” 

The Nautilus was floating, no doubt, but it did not 
move. A minute passed. Captain Nemo, followed by 
his lieutenant, entered the drawing-room. I had not 
seen him for some time. He seemed dull. Without 
noticing or speaking to us, he went to the panel, looked 
at the poulps, and said something to his lieutenant. 
The latter went out. Soon the panels were shut. The 
ceiling was lighted. . I went towards the Captain. 

“ A curious collection of poulps ?” I said. 

“Yes, indeed, Mr. Naturalist,” he replied; “and 
we are going to fight them, man to beast.” 

I looked at him. I thought I had not heard aright. 

“ Man to beast ?” I repeated. 

“ Yes, sir. The screw is stopped. I think that the 
horny jaws of one of the cuttle-fish is entangled in the 
blades. That is what prevents our moving.” 

“ What are you going to do ? ” 

“ Rise to the surface, and slaughter this vermin.” 

“ A difficult enterprise.” 

“ Yes, indeed. The electric bullets are powerless 
against the soft flesh, where they do not find resistance 
enough to go off. But we shall attack them with the 
hatchet.” 

“ And the harpoon, sir,” said the Canadian, “ if you 
do not refuse my help.” 

“ I will accept it. Master Land.” 

“We will follow you,” I said, and following Captain 
Nemo, we went towards the central staircase. 

There, about ten men with boarding hatchets were 
ready for the attack. Conseil and I took two hatchets ; 



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UNDER THE SEA 


387 


Ned Land seized a harpoon. The Nautilus had then 
risen to the surface. One of the sailors, posted on the 
top ladder-step, unscrewed the bolts of the panels. 
But hardly were the screws loosed, when the panel rose 
with great violence, evidently drawn by the suckers of 
a poulp’s arm. Immediately one of these arms slid 
like a serpent down the opening, and twenty others 
were above. With one blow of the axe. Captain Nemo 
cut this formidable tentacle, that slid wriggling down 
the ladder. Just as we were pressing one on the other 
to reach the platform, two other arms, lashing the air, 
came down on the seaman placed before Captain Nemo, 
and lifted him up with irresistible power. Captain 
Nemo uttered a cry, and rushed out. We hurried 
after him. 

What a scene! The unhappy man, seized by ^ the 
tentacle, and fixed to the suckers, was balanced in^ithe 
air at the caprice of this enormous trunk. He rattled 
in his throat, he was stifled, he cried, Help ! help ! '' 
These words, spoken in French, startled me ! I had a 
fellow-countryman on board, perhaps several! That 
heartrending cry! I shall hear it all my life. The 
unfortunate man was lost. Who could rescue him 
from that powerful pressure? However, Captain 
Nemo had rushed to the poulp, and with one blow of 
the axe had cut through one arm. His lieutenant 
struggled furiously against other monsters that crept 
on the flanks of the Nautilus. The crew fought with 
their axes. The Canadian, Conseil, and I, buried our 
weapons in the fleshy masses ; a strong smell of musk 
penetrated the atmosphere. It was horrible ! 

For one instant, I thought the unhappy man, en- 
tangled with the poulp, would be torn from its power- 


388 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


ful suction. Seven of the eight arms had been cut 
off. One only wriggled in the air, brandishing the 
victim like a feather. But just as Captain Nemo and 
his lieutenant threw themselves on it, the animal 
ejected a stream of black liquid. We were blinded 
with it. When the cloud dispersed, the cuttle-fish had 
disappeared, and my unfortunate countryman with it. 
Ten or twelve poulps now invaded the platform and 
sides of the Nautilus. We rolled pell-mell into the 
midst of this nest of serpents, that wriggled on the 
platform in the waves of blood and ink. It seemed as 
though these slimy tentacles sprang up like the hydra’s 
heads. Ned Land’s harpoon, at each stroke, was 
plunged into the staring eyes of the cuttle-fish. But 
my bold companion was suddenly overturned by the 
ten cades of a monster he had not been able to avoid. 

Ah! how my heart beat with emotion and horror! 
The formidable beak ot a cuttle-fish was open over 
Ned Land. The unhappy man would be cut in two. 
I rushed to his succour. But Captain Nemo was before 
me; his axe disappeared between the two enormous 
jaws, and, miraculously saved, the Canadian, rising, 
plunged his harpoon deep into the triple heart of the 
poulp. 

“ I owed myself this revenge ! ” said the Captain to 
the Canadian. 

Ned bowed without replying. The combat had lasted 
a quarter of an hour. The monsters, vanquished and 
mutilated, left us at last, and disappeared under the 
waves. Captain Nemo, covered with blood, nearly 
exhausted, gazed upon the sea that had swallowed up 
one of his companions, and great tears gathered in 
his eyes. 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE GULF STREAM 

This terrible scene of the 20th of April none of us 
can ever forget. I have written it under the influence 
of violent emotion. Since then I have revised the 
recital ; I have read it to Conseil and to the Canadian. 
They found it exact as to facts, but insufficient as to 
effect. To paint such pictures, one must have the pen 
of the most illustrious of our poets, the author of 
'' The Toilers of the Deep.'' 

I have said that Captain Nemo wept while watching 
the waves; his grief was great. It was the second 
companion he had lost since our arrival on board, and 
what a death! That friend, crushed, stifled, bruised 
by the dreadful arms of a poulp, pounded by his iron 
jaws, would not rest with his comrades in the peaceful 
coral cemetery! In the midst of the struggle, it was 
the despairing cry uttered by the unfortunate man that 
had torn my heart. The poor Frenchman, forgetting 
his conventional language, had taken to his own mother 
tongue, to utter a last appeal! Amongst the crew of 
the Naiitihis, associated with the body and soul of the 
Captain, recoiling like him from all contact with men, 
I had a fellow countryman. Did he alone represent 
France in this mysterious association, evidently com- 
posed of individuals of divers nationalities? It was 
one of these insoluble problems that rose up unceas- 
ingly before my mind! 


390 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


Captain Nemo entered his room, and I saw him no 
more for some time. But that he was sad and irreso- 
lute I could see by the vessel, of which he was the soul, 
and which received all his impressions. The Nautilus 
did not keep on in its settled course; it floated about 
like a corpse at the will of the waves. It went at 
random. He could not tear himself away from the 
scene of the last struggle, from this sea that had de- 
voured one of his men. Ten days passed thus. It 
was not till the ist of May that the Nautilus resumed 
its northerly course, after having sighted the Bahamas 
at the mouth of the Bahama Channel. We were then 
following the current from the largest river to the sea, 
that has its banks, its fish, and its proper temperatures. 
I mean the Gulf Stream. It is really a river, that 
flows freely to the middle of the Atlantic, and whose 
waters do not mix with the ocean waters. It is a salt 
river, salter than the surrounding sea. Its mean depth 
is 1500 fathoms, its mean breadth ten miles. In cer- 
tain places the current flows with the speed of two 
miles and a half an hour. The body of its waters is 
more considerable than that of all the rivers in the 
globe. It was on this ocean river that the Nautilus 
then sailed. 

This current carried with it all kinds of living things. 
Argonauts, so common in the Mediterranean, were 
there in quantities. Of the gristly sort, the most re- 
markable were the turbot, whose slender tails form 
nearly the third part of the body, and that looked like 
large lozenges twenty-five feet long ; also, small sharks 
a yard long, with large heads, short rounded muzzles, 
pointed teeth in several rows, and whose bodies seemed 
covered with scales. Among the bony fish I noticed 


UNDER THE SEA 


391 


some grey gobies, peculiar to these waters ; black gilt- 
heads, whose iris shone like fire; sirenes a yard long, 
with large snouts thickly set with little teeth, that 
uttered little cries ; blue coryphænes, in gold and silver ; 
parrots, like the rainbows of the ocean, that could rival 
in colour the most beautiful tropical birds; blennies 
with triangular heads ; bluish rhombs destitute of 
scales; batrachoides covered with yellow transversal 
bands like a Greek r; heaps of little gobies spotted 
with yellow ; dipterodons with silvery heads and yellow 
tails; several specimens of salmon, mugilomores slen- 
der in shape, shining with a soft light that Lacépède 
consecrated to the service of his wife; and lastly, a 
beautiful fish, the American-knight, that, decorated 
with all the orders and ribbons, frequents the shores 
of this great nation, that esteems orders and ribbons 
so little. 

I must add that, during the night, the phosphorescent 
waters of the Gulf Stream rivalled the electric power 
of our watch-light, especially in the stormy weather 
that threatened us so frequently. May 8 th, we were 
still crossing Cape Hatteras, at the height of North 
Carolina. The width of the Gulf Stream there is 
seventy-five miles, and its depth 210 yards. The 
Nautilus still went at random ; all sut)ervision seemed 
abandoned. I thought that, under these circumstances, 
escape would be possible. Indeed, the inhabited shores 
offered anywhere an easy refuge. The sea was in- 
cessantly ploughed by the steamers that ply between 
New York or Boston and the Gulf of Mexico, and 
overrun day and night by the little schooners coasting 
about the several parts of the American coast. We 
could hope to be picked up. It was a favourable 


392 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


opportunity, notwithstanding the thirty miles that 
separated the Nautilus from the coasts of the Union. 
One unfortunate circumstance thwarted the Cana- 
dian’s plans. The weather was very bad. We were 
nearing those shores where tempests are so frequent, 
that country of waterspouts and cyclones actually en- 
gendered by the current of the Gulf Stream. To tempt 
the sea in a frail boat was certain destruction. Ned 
Land owned this himself. He fretted, seized with 
nostalgia that flight only could cure. 

“ Master,” he said that day to me, “ this must come 
to an end. I must make a clean breast of it. This 
Nemo is leaving land and going up to the north. But 
I declare to you, I have had enough of the South Pole, 
and I will not follow him to the North.” 

“ What is to be done, Ned, since flight is imprac- 
ticable just now?” 

We must speak to the Captain,” said he ; you said 
nothing when we were in your native seas. I will 
speak, now we are in mine. When I think that 
before long the Nautilus will be by Nova Scotia, and 
that there near Newfoundland is a large bay, and into 
that bay the St. Lawrence empties itself, and that the 
St. Lawrence is my river, the river by Quebec my 
native town, — when I think of this, I feel furious, it 
makes my hair stand on end. Sir, I would rather 
throw myself into the sea ! I will not stay here ! I am 
stifled ! ” 

The Canadian was evidently losing all patience. His 
vigorous nature could not stand this prolonged impris- 
onment. His face altered daily; his temper became 
more surly. I knew what he must suffer, for I was 
seized with nostalgia myself. Nearly seven months 


UNDER THE SEA 


393 


had passed without our having had any news from 
land; Captain Nemo’s isolation, his altered spirits, 
especially since the fight with the poulps, his taciturnity, 
all made me view things in a different light. 

“Well, sir?” said Ned, seeing I did not reply. 

“ Well, Ned ! do you wish me to ask Captain Nemo 
his intentions concerning us?” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ Although he has already made them known ? ” 

“ Yes ; I wish it settled finally. Speak for me, in my 
name only, if you like.” 

“ But I so seldom meet him. He avoids me.” 

“ That is all the more reason for you to go to see 
him.” 

I went to my room. From thence I meant to go to 
Captain Nemo’s. It would not do to let this oppor- 
tunity of meeting him slip. I knocked at the door. 
No answer. I knocked again, then turned the handle. 
The door opened, I went in. The Captain was there. 
Bending over his work-table, he had not heard me. 
Resolved not to go without having spoken, I ap- 
proached him. He raised his head quickly, frowned, 
and said roughly, “ You here ! What do you 
want ? ” 

“ To speak to you, Captain.” 

“ But I am busy, sir ; I am working. I leave you 
at liberty to shut yourself up ; cannot I be allowed the 
same ? ” 

This reception was not encouraging ; but I was 
determined to hear and answer everything. 

“ Sir,” I said, coldly, “ I have to speak to you on 
a matter that admits of no delay,” 

“ What is that, sir ? ” he replied, ironically. “ Have 


394 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


you discovered something that has escaped me, or has 
the sea delivered up any new secrets ? ’’ 

We were at cross-purposes. But before I could 
reply, he showed me an open manuscript on his table, 
and said, in a more serious tone, “ Here, M. Aronnax, 
is a manuscript written in several languages. It con- 
tains the sum of my studies of the sea ; and, if it please 
God, it shall not perish with me. This manuscript, 
signed with my name, completed with the history of 
my life, will be shut up in a little insubmersible case. 
The last survivor of all of us on board the Nautilus 
will throw this case into the sea, and it will go whither 
it is borne by the waves.’’ 

This man’s name! his history written by himself! 
His mystery would then be revealed some day. 

“ Captain,” I said, I can but approve of the idea 
that makes you act thus. The result of your studies 
must not be lost. But the means you employ seem to 
me to be primitive. Who knows where the winds will 
carry this case, and in whose hands it will fall ? Could 
you not use some other means ? Could not you, or one 
of yours ” 

“ Never, sir ! ” he said, hastily interrupting me. 

‘‘ But I, and my companions are ready to keep this 
manuscript in store ; and, if you will put us at 
liberty ” 

'‘At liberty?” said the Captain, rising. 

"Yes, sir; that is the subject on which I wish to 
question you. For seven months we have been here 
on board, and I ask you to-day, in the name of my 
companions, and in my own, if your intention is to 
keep us here always?” 

“ M. Aronnax, I will answer you to-day as I 


UNDER THE SEA 


395 


did seven months ago: Whoever enters the Nautilus 
must never quit it.” 

“ You impose actual slavery on us ! ” 

“ Give it what name you please.” 

But everywhere the slave has the right to regain 
his liberty.” 

“ Who denies you this right ? Have I ever tried to 
chain you with an oath ? ” 

He looked at me with his arms crossed. 

“ Sir,” I said, “ to return a second time to this sub- 
ject will be neither to your nor to my taste; but, as we 
have entered upon it, let us go through with it. I 
repeat, it is not only myself whom it concerns. Study 
is to me a relief, a diversion, a passion that could 
make me forget everything. Like you, I am willing 
to live obscure, in the frail hope of bequeathing one 
day, to future time, the result of my labours. But 
it is otherwise with Ned Land. Every man, worthy 
of the name, deserves some consideration. Have you 
thought that love of liberty, hatred of slavery, can 
give rise to schemes of revenge in a nature like the 

Canadian’s ; that he could think, attempt, and try ” 

I was silenced ; Captain Nemo rose. 

Whatever Ned Land thinks of, attempts, or tries, 
what does it matter to me? I did not seek him! It 
is not for my pleasure that I keep him on board! 
As for you, M. Aronnax, you are one of those who 
can understand everything, even silence. I have 
nothing more to say to you. Let this first time you 
have come to treat of this subject be the last, for a 
second time I will not listen to you.” 

I retired. Our situation was critical. I related my 
conversation to my two companions. 


396 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


“ We know now,” said Ned, that we can expect 
nothing from this man. The Nautilus is nearing Long 
Island. We will escape, whatever the weather may 
be.” 

But the sky became more and more threatening. 
Symptoms of a hurricane became manifest. The at- 
mosphere was becoming white and misty. On the 
horizon fine streaks of cirrhous clouds were suc- 
ceeded by masses of cumuli. Other low clouds 
passed swiftly by. The swollen sea rose in huge bil- 
lows. The birds disappeared, with the exception of 
the petrels, those friends of the storm. The barom- 
eter fell sensibly, and indicated an extreme tension 
of the vapours. The mixture of the storm glass was 
decomposed under the influence of the electricity that 
pervaded the atmosphere. The tempest burst on the 
1 8th of May, just as the Nautilus was floating off 
Long Island, some miles from the port of New York. 
I can describe this strife of the elements for, instead 
of fleeing to the depths of the sea, Captain Nemo, 
by an unaccountable caprice, would brave it at the 
surface. The wind blew from the south-west at first. 
Captain Nemo, during the squalls, had taken his place 
on the platform. He made himself fast, to prevent 
being washed overboard by the monstrous waves. I 
had hoisted myself up, and made myself fast also, 
dividing my admiration between the tempest and this 
extraordinary man who was coping with it. The rag- 
ing sea was swept by huge cloud-drifts, which were 
actually saturated with the waves. The Nautilus, 
sometimes lying on its side, sometimes standing up 
like a mast, rolled and pitched terribly. About five 
o'clock a torrent of rain fell, that lulled neither sea nor 


UNDER THE SEA 


397 


wind. The hurricane blew nearly forty leagues an 
hour. It is under these conditions that it overturns 
houses, breaks iron gates, displaces twenty-four 
pounders. However, the Nautilus, in the midst of the 
tempest, confirmed the words of a clever engineer, 
'' There is no well-constructed hull that cannot defy 
the sea.’’ This was not a resisting rock ; it was a steel 
spindle, obedient and movable, without rigging or 
masts, that braved its fury with impunity. However, 
I watched these raging waves attentively. They meas- 
ured fifteen feet in height, and 150 to 175 yards long, 
and their speed of propagation was thirty feet per 
second. Their bulk and power increased with the 
depth of the water. Such waves as these, at the 
Hebrides, have displaced a mass weighing 8400 lbs. 
They are they which, in the tempest of December 23d, 
1864, after destroying the town of Yeddo, in Japan, 
broke the same day on the shores of America. The 
intensity of the tempest increased with the night. 
The barometer, as in i860 at Reunion during a cyclone, 
fell seven-tenths at the close of day. I saw a large 
vessel pass the horizon struggling painfully. She was 
trying to lie to under half steam, to keep up above the 
waves. It was probably one of the steamers of the 
line from New York to Liverpool, or Havre. It soon 
disappeared in the gloom. At ten o’clock in the even- 
ing the sky, was on fire. The atmosphere was streaked 
with vivid lightning. I could not bear the brightness 
of it ; while the Captain, looking at it, seemed to envy 
the spirit of the tempest. A terrible noise filled the 
air, a complex noise, made up of the howls of the 
crushed waves, the roaring of the wind, and the claps 
of thunder. The wind veered suddenly to all points 


398 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of the horizon; and the cyclone, rising in the east, 
returned after passing by the north, west, and south, 
in the inverse course pursued by the circular storms 
of the southern hemisphere. Ah, that Gulf Stream! 
It deserves its name of the King of Tempests. It is 
that which causes those formidable cyclones, by the 
difference of temperature between its air and its cur- 
rents. A shower of fire had succeeded the rain. The 
drops of water were changed to sharp spikes. One 
would have thought that Captain Nemo was courting 
a death worthy of himself, a death by lightning. As 
the Nautilus, pitching dreadfully, raised its steel spur 
in the air, it seemed to act as a conductor, and I saw 
long sparks burst from it. Crushed arfd without 
strength, I crawled to the panel, opened it, and de- 
scended to the saloon. The storm was then at its 
height. It was impossible to stand upright in the in- 
terior of the Nautilus. Captain Nemo carme down 
about twelve. I heard the reservoirs filling by de- 
grees, and the Nautilus sank slowly beneath the waves. 
Through the open windows in the saloon I saw large 
fish terrified, passing like phantoms in the water. 
Some were struck before my eyes. The Nautilus was 
still descending. I thought that at about eight 
fathoms deep we should find a calm. But no! the 
upper beds were too violently agitated for that. We 
had to seek repose at more than twenty-five fathoms in 
the bowels of the deep. But there, what quiet, what 
silence, what peace! Who could have told that such 
a hurricane had been let loose on the surface of that 
ocean ? 


CHAPTER XX 

FROM LATITUDE 47° 24' LONGITUDE 17° 28' 

In consequence of the storm, we had been thrown 
eastward once more. All hope of escape on the shores 
of New York or the St. Lawrence had faded away; 
and poor Ned, in despair, had isolated himself like 
Captain Nemo. Conseil and I, however, never left each 
other. I said that the Nautilus had gone aside to the 
east. I should have said (to be more exact) the north- 
east. For some days, it wandered first on the surface, 
and then beneath it, amid those fogs, so dreaded by 
sailors. What accidents are due to these thick fogs! 
What shocks upon these reefs when the wind drowns 
the breaking of the waves! What collisions between 
vessels, in spite of their warning lights, whistles, and 
alarm bells! And the bottoms of these seas look like 
a field of battle, where still lie all the conquered of 
the ocean ; some old and already encrusted, others 
fresh and reflecting from their iron bands and copper- 
plates the brilliancy of our lantern. 

On the 15th of May we were at the extreme south 
of the Bank of Newfoundland. This bank consists 
of alluvia, or large heaps of organic matter, brought 
either from the Equator by the Gulf Stream, or from 
the North Pole by the counter current of cold water 
which skirts the American coast. There also are 
heaped up those erratic blocks which are carried along 


400 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


by the broken ice ; and close by, a vast charnel-house 
of molluscs or zoophytes, which perish here by millions. 
The depth of the sea is not great at Newfoundland — 
not more than some hundreds of fathoms ; but towards 
the south is a depression of 1500 fathoms. There the 
Gulf Stream widens. It loses some of its speed and 
some of its temperature, but it becomes a sea. 

It was on the 17th of May, about 500 miles from 
Heart’s Content, at a depth of more than 1400 fathoms, 
that I saw the electric cable lying on the bottom. Con- 
seil, to whom I had not mentioned it, thought at first 
that it was a gigantic sea-serpent. But I undeceived 
the worthy fellow, and by way of consolation related 
several particulars in the laying of this cable. The 
first one was laid in the years 1857 and 1858; but, 
after transmiting about 400 telegrams, would not act 
any longer. In 1863, the engineers constructed an- 
other one, measuring 2000 miles in length, and weigh- 
ing 4500 tons, which was embarked on the Great 
Eastern. This attempt also failed. 

On the 25th of May the Nautilus, being at a depth 
of more than 1918 fathoms, was on the precise spot 
where the rupture occurred which ruined the enter- 
prise. It was within 638 miles of the coast of Ireland ; 
and at half-past two in the afternoon, they discovered 
that communication with Europe had ceased. The 
electricians on board resolved to cut the cable before 
fishing it up, and at eleven o’clock at night they had 
recovered the damaged part. They made another 
point and spliced it, and it was once more submerged. 
But some days after it broke again, and in the depths 
of the ocean could not be recaptured. The Americans, 
however, were not discouraged. Cyrus Field, the bold 


UNDER THE SEA 


401 


promoter of the enterprise, as he had sunk all his own 
fortune, set a new subscription on foot, which was 
at once answered, and another cable was constructed 
on better principles. The bundles of conducting wires 
were each enveloped in gutta-percha, and protected by 
a wadding of hemp, contained in a metallic covering. 
The Great Eastern sailed on the 13th of July, 1866. 
The operation worked well. But one incident oc- 
curred. Several times in unrolling the cable they 
observed that nails had been recently forced into it, 
evidently with the motive of destroying it. Captain 
Anderson, the officers, and engineers, consulted to- 
gether, and had it posted up that if the offender was 
surprised on board, he would be thrown without 
further trial into the sea. From that time the criminal 
attempt was never repeated. 

On the 23d of July the Great Eastern was not more 
than 500 miles from Newfoundland, when they tele- 
graphed from Ireland news of the armistice con- 
cluded between Prussia and Austria after Sadowa. 
On the 27th, in the midst of heavy fogs, they reached 
the port of Heart’s Content. The enterprise was suc- 
cessfully terminated; and for its first despatch, young 
America addressed old Europe in these words of 
wisdom so rarely understood — Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” 

I did not expect to find an electric cable in its primi- 
tive state, such as it was on leaving the manufactory. 
The long serpent, covered with the remains of shells, 
bristling with foraminiferæ, was encrusted with a 
strong coating which served as a protection against 
all boring molluscs. It lay quietly sheltered from the 
motions of the sea, and under a favourable pressure 


402 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


for the transmission of the electric spark which passes 
from Europe to America in .32 of a second. Doubt- 
less this cable will last for a great length of time, for 
they find that the gutta-percha covering is improved 
by the sea-water. Besides, on this level, so well 
chosen, the cable is never so deeply submerged as to 
cause it to break. The Nautilus followed it to the 
lowest depth, which was more than 2212 fathoms, and 
there it lay without any anchorage ; and then we 
reached the spot where the accident had taken place 
in 1863. The bottom of the ocean then formed a 
valley about 100 miles broad, in which Mont Blanc 
might have been placed without its summit appearing 
above the waves. This valley is closed at the east by a 
perpendicular wall more than 2000 yards high. We 
arrived there on the 28th of May, and the Nautilus 
was then not more than 120 miles from Ireland. 

Was Captain Nemo going to land on the British 
Isles? No. To my great surprise he made for the 
south, oncemiore coming back towards European seas. 
In rounding the Emerald Isle, for one instant I caught 
sight of Cape Clear, and the light which guides the 
thousands of vessels leaving Glasgow or Liverpool. 
An important question then arose in my mind. Did 
the Nautilus dare entangle itself in the English Chan- 
nel? Ned Land, who had reappeared since we had 
been nearing land, did not cease to question me. How 
could I answer? Captain Nemo remained invisible. 
After having shown the Canadian a glimpse of Ameri- 
can shores, was he going to show me the coast of 
France? 

But the Nautilus was still going southward. On the 
30th of May, it passed in sight of the Land’s End, 


UNDER THE SEA 


403 


between the extreme point of England and the Scilly 
Isles, which were left to starboard. If he wished to 
enter the English Channel he must go straight to the 
east. He did not do so. 

During the whole of the 31st of May, the Nautilus 
described a series of circles on the water, which greatly 
interested me. It seemed to be seeking a spot it had 
some trouble in finding. At noon. Captain Nemo him- 
self came to work the ship’s log. He spoke no word 
to me, but seemed gloomier than ever. What could 
sadden him thus? Was it his proximity to European 
shores? Had he some recollections of his abandoned 
country? If not, what did he feel? Remorse or re- 
gret? For a long while this thought haunted my 
mind, and I had a kind of presentiment that before long 
chance would betray the Captain’s secrets. 

The next day, the ist of June, the Nautihis con- 
tinued the same process. It was evidently seeking 
some particular spot in the ocean. Captain Nemo 
took the sun’s altitude as he had done the day before. 
The sea was beautiful, the sky clear. About eight 
miles to the east, a large vessel could be discerned on 
the horizon. No flag fluttered from its mast, and I 
could not discover its nationality. Some minutes be- 
fore the sun passed the meridian. Captain Nemo took 
his sextant, and watched with great attention. The 
perfect rest of the water greatly helped the operation. 
The Nautilus was motionless; it neither rolled nor 
pitched. 

I was on the platform when the altitude was taken, 
and the Captain pronounced these words — “ It is here.” 

He turned and went below. Had he seen the vessel 
which was changing its course and seemed to be 


404 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


nearing us? I could not tell. I returned to the 
saloon. The panels closed, I heard the hissing of the 
water in the reservoirs. The Nautilus began to sink, 
following a vertical line, for its screw communicated 
no motion to it. Some minutes later it stopped at 
a depth of more than 420 fathoms, resting on the 
ground. The luminous ceiling was darkened, then 
the panels were opened, and through the glass I saw 
the sea brilliantly illuminated by the rays of our lan- 
tern for at least half a mile round us. 

I looked to the port side, and saw nothing but an 
immensity of quiet waters. But to starboard, on the 
bottom appeared a large protuberance, which at once 
attracted my attention. One would have thought it 
a ruin buried under a coating of white shells, much 
resembling a covering of snow. Upon examining the 
mass attentively, I could recognize the ever thickening 
form of a vessel bare uf its masts, which must have 
sunk. It certainly belonged to past times. This 
wreck, to be thus encrusted with the lime of the water, 
must already be able to count many years passed at 
the bottom of the ocean. 

What was this vessel? Why did the Nautilus visit 
its tomb? Could it have been aught but a shipwreck 
which had drawn it under the water? I knew not 
what to think, when near me in a slow voice I heard 
Captain Nemo say — 

“At one time this ship was called the Marseillais. 
It carried seventy-four guns, and was launched in 
1762. In 1778, the 13th of August, commanded by 
La Poype-Vertrieux, it fought boldly against the Pres- 
ton. In 1779» on the 4th of July, it was at the taking 
of Granada, with the squadron of xYdmiral Estaing, 


UNDER THE SEA 


405 


In 1781, on the 5th of September, it took part in the 
battle of Comte de Grasse, in Chesapeake Bay. In 
1794, the French Republic changed its name. On the 
1 6th of April, in the same year, it joined the squadron 
of Villaret Joyeuse, at Brest, being entrusted with the 
escort of a cargo of corn coming from America, under 
the command of Admiral Van Stabel. On the nth 
and 1 2th Prairal of the second year, this squadron 
fell in with an English vessel. Sir, to-day is the 13th 
Prairal, the ist of June, 1868. It is now seventy- 
four years ago, day for day on this very spot, in 
latitude 47° 24', longitue 17° 28', that this vessel, after 
fighting heroically, losing its three masts, with the 
water in its hold, and the third of its crew disabled, 
preferred sinking with its 356 sailors to surrendering ; 
and nailing its colours to the poop, disappeared under 
the waves to the cry of ‘ Long live the Republic ! ’ ” 

‘‘The Avenger I'' I exclaimed. 

“ Yes, sir, the Avenger! A good name ! ” muttered 
Captain Nemo, crossing his arms. 


CHAPTER XXI 


A HECATOMB 

The way of describing this unlooked-for scene, the 
history of the patriotic ship, told at first so coldly, and 
the emotion with which this strange man pronounced 
the last words, the name of the Avenger, the signifi- 
cance of which could not escape me, all impressed 
itself deeply on my mind. My eyes did not leave the 
Captain ; who, with his hand stretched out to sea, was 
watching with a glowing eye the glorious wreck. Per- 
haps I was never to know who he was, from whence 
he came, or where he was going to, but I saw the 
man move, and apart from the savant. It was no 
common misanthropy which had shut Captain Nemo 
and his companions within the Nautilus, but a hatred, 
either monstrous or sublime, which time could never 
weaken. Did this hatred still seek for vengeance? 
The future would soon teach me that. But the Nau- 
tilus was rising slowly to the surface of the sea, and 
the form of the Avenger disappeared by degrees from 
my sight. Soon a slight rolling told me that we were 
in the open air. At that moment a dull boom was 
heard. I looked at the Captain. He did not move. 

“ Captain ? ” said I. 

He did not answer. I left him and mounted the 
platform. Conseil and the Canadian were already 
there. 

Where did that sound come from ?” I asked. 


UNDER THE SEA 


407 


“ It was a gunshot,” replied Ned Land. 

I looked in the direction of the vessel I had already 
seen. It was nearing the Nautilus, and we could see 
that it was putting on steam. It was within six miles 
of us. 

“What is that ship, Ned?” 

“ By its rigging, and the height of its lower masts,” 
said the Canadian, “ I bet she is a ship of war. May it 
reach us ; and, if necessary, sink this cursed Nautilus.’' 

“ Friend Ned,” replied Conseil, “ what harm can it 
do to the Nautilus? Can it attack it beneath the 
waves? Can it cannonade us at the bottom of the 
sea?” 

“Tell me, Ned,” said I, “can you recognize what 
country she belongs to ? ” 

The Canadian knitted his eyebrows, dropped his 
eyelids, and screwed up the corners of his eyes, and 
for a few moments fixed a piercing look upon the 
vessel. 

“ No, sir,” he replied ; “ I cannot tell what nation 
she belongs to, for she shows no colours. But I 
can declare she is a man-of-war, for a long pennant 
flutters from her main-mast.” 

For a quarter of an hour we watched the ship which 
was steaming towards us. I could not, however, 
believe that she could see the Nautilus from that dis- 
tance; and still less, that she could know what this 
submarine engine was. Soon the Canadian informed 
me that she was a large armoured two-decker ram. 
A thick black smoke was pouring from her two fun- 
nels. Her closely-furled sails were stopped to her 
yards. She hoisted no flag at her mizzen-peak. The 
distance prevented us from distinguishing the colours 


4o8 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


of her pennant, which floated like a thin ribbon. She 
advanced rapidly. If Captain Nemo allowed her to 
approach, there was a chance of salvation for us. 

“ Sir,” said Ned Land, “ if that vessel passes within 
a mile of us I shall throw myself into the sea, and I 
should advise you to do the same.” 

I did not reply to the Canadian’s suggestion, but 
continued watching the ship. Whether English, 
French, American, or Russian, she would be sure to 
take us in if we could only reach her. Presently a 
white smoke burst from the fore part of the vessel; 
some seconds after the water, agitated by the fall of a 
body, splashed the stern of the Nautilus, and shortly 
afterwards a loud explosion struck my ear. 

‘‘ What ! they are firing at us ! ” I exclaimed. 

“So please you, sir,” said Ned, “they have recog- 
nised the unicorn, and they are firing at us.” 

“ But,” I exclaimed, “ surely they can see that there 
are men in the case ? ” 

“ It is, perhaps, because of that,” replied Ned Land, 
looking at me. 

A whole flood of light burst upon my mind. Doubt- 
less they knew now how to believe the stories of the 
pretended monster. No doubt, on board the Abraham 
Lincoln, when the Canadian struck it with the harpoon. 
Commander Faragut had recognised in the supposed 
narwhal a submarine vessel, more dangerous than 
a supernatural cetacean. Yes, it must have been so; 
and on every sea they were now seeking this engine of 
destruction. Terrible indeed ! if, as we supposed. Cap- 
tain Nemo employed the Nautilus in works of ven- 
geance. On the night when we were imprisoned in 
that cell, in the midst of the Indian Ocean, had he 


UNDER THE SEA 


40^ 


not attacked some vessel? The man buried in the 
coral cemetery, had he not been a victim to the shock 
caused by the Nautilus? Yes, I repeat it, it must 
be so. One part of the mysterious existence of Cap- 
tain Nemo had been unveiled; and, if his identity had 
not been recognised, at least, the nations united against 
him were no longer hunting a chimerical creature, but 
a man who had vowed a deadly hatred against them. 
All the formidable past rose before me. Instead of 
meeting friends on board the approaching ship, we 
could only expect pitiless enemies. But the shot rattled 
above us. Some of them struck the sea and rico- 
chetted, losing themselves in the distance. But none 
touched the Nautilus. The vessel was not more than 
three miles from us. In spite of the serious can- 
nonade, Captain Nemo did not appear on the platform ; 
but, if one of the conical projectiles had struck the 
shell of the Nautilus, it would have been fatal. The 
Canadian then said, “ Sir, we must do all we can to 
get out of this dilemma. Let us signal them. They 
will then, perhaps, understand that we are honest 
folks.’^ 

Ned Land took his handkerchief to wave in the 
air; but he had scarcely displayed it, when he was 
struck down by an iron hand, and fell in spite of his 
great strength, upon the deck. 

“ Fool ! ” exclaimed the Captain, “ do you wish to 
be pierced by the spur of the Nautilus before it is 
hurled at this vessel 

Captain Nemo was terrible to hear; he was still 
more terrible to see. Flis face was deadly pale, with 
a spasm at his heart. For an instant it must have 
ceased to beat. His pupils were fearfully contracted 


410 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


He did not speak, he roared, as, with his body thrown 
forward, he wrung the Canadian’s shoulders. Then, 
leaving him, and turning to the ship of war, whose 
shot was still raining around him, he exclaimed, with 
a powerful voice, “ Ah, ship of an accursed nation, you 
know who I am ! I do not want your colours to know 
you by ! Look ! and I will show you mine ! ” 

And on the fore part of the platform Captain Nemo 
unfurled a black flag, similar to the one he had placed 
at the south pole. At that moment a shot struck the 
shell of the Nautilus obliquely, without piercing it; 
and, rebounding near the Captain, was lost in the 
sea. He shrugged his shoulders; and addressing me, 
said shortly, “ Go down, you and your companions, 
go down ! ” 

“ Sir,” I exclaimed, “ are you going to attack this 
vessel ? ” 

“ Sir, I am going to sink it.” 

“ You will not do that? ” 

“ I shall do it,” he replied, coldly. ‘‘ And I advise 
you not to judge me, sir. Fate has shown you what 
you ought not have seen. The attack has begun; go 
down.” 

“ What is this vessel ? ” 

“ You do not know ? Very well ! so much the better ! 
its nationality to you, at least, will be a secret. Go 
down ! ” 

We could but obey. About fifteen of the sailors 
surrounded the Captain, looking with implacable 
hatred at the vessel nearing them. One could feel 
that the same desire of vengeance animated every soul. 
I went down at the moment another projectile struck 
the Nautilus, and I heard the Captain exclaim — 


UNDER THE SEA 


41 1 

Strike, nnad vessel ! Shower your useless shot ! 
And then, you will not escape the spur of the Nau- 
tilus. But it is not here that you shall perish! I 
would not have your ruins mingle with those of the 
Avenger!’* 

I reached my room. The Captain and his second 
had remained on the platform. The screw was set 
in motion, and the Nautilus, moving with speed, was 
soon beyond the reach of the ship’s guns. But the 
pursuit continued, and Captain Nemo contented him- 
self with keeping his distance. 

About four in the afternoon, being no longer able 
to contain my impatience, I went to the central stair- 
case. The panel was open, and I ventured on to the 
platform. The Captain was still walking up and 
down with an agitated step. He was looking at the 
ship, which was five or six miles to leeward. 

He was going round it like a wild beast, and draw- 
ing it eastward, he allowed them to pursue. But he 
did not attack. Perhaps he still hesitated? I wished 
to mediate once more. But I had scarcely spoken, 
when Captain Nemo imposed silence, saying — 

‘‘I am the law, and I am the judge! I am the 
oppressed, and there is the oppressor! Through him 
I have lost all that I loved, cherished, and venerated, — 
country, wife, children, father, and mother. I saw 
all perish ! All that I hate is there ! Say no more ! ” 

I cast a last look at the man-of-war, which was 
putting on steam, and rejoined Ned and Conseil. 

** We will fly ! ” I exclaimed. 

‘‘Good!” said Ned. “What is this vessel?” 

“ I do not know ; but whatever it is, it will be sunk 
before night. In any case, it is better to perish with 


412 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


it, than be made accomplices in a retaliation, the justice 
of which we cannot judge.’' 

''That is my opinion too,” said Ned Land, coolly. 
" Let us wait for night.” 

Night arrived. Deep silence reigned on board. 
The compass showed that the Nautilus had not altered 
its course. It was on the surface, rolling slightly. 
My companions and I resolved to fly when the vessel 
should be near enough either to hear us or to see 
us ; for the moon, which would be full in two or three 
days, shone brightly. Once on board the ship, if we 
could not prevent the blow which threatened it, we 
could, at least we would, do all that circumstances 
would allow. Several times I thought the Nautilus 
was preparing for attack; but Captain Nemo con- 
tented himself with allowing his adversary to approach, 
and then fled once more before it. 

Part of the night passed without any incident. V/e 
watched the opportunity for action. We spoke little, 
for we were too much moved. Ned Land would 
have thrown himself into the sea, but I forced him to 
wait. According to my idea, the Nautilus would at- 
tack the ship at her waterline, and then it would not 
only be possible, but easy to fly. 

At three in the morning, full of uneasiness, I 
mounted the platform. Captain Nemo had not left 
it. He was standing at the forepart near his flag, 
which a slight breeze displayed above his head. He 
did not take his eyes from the vessel. The intensity 
of his look seemed to attract, and fascinate, and draw 
it onward more purely than if he had been towing it. 
The moon was then passing the meridian. Jupiter 
was rising in the east. Amid this peaceful scene of 


UNDER THE SEA 


413 


nature, sky and ocean rivalled each other in tranquillity, 
the sea offering to the orbs of night the finest mirror 
they could ever have in which to reflect their image. 
As I thought of the deep calm of these elements, 
compared with all those passions brooding impercept- 
ibly within the Nautilus, I shuddered. 

The vessel was within two miles of us. It was ever 
nearing that phosphorescent light which showed the 
presence of the Nautilus. I could see its green and 
red lights, and its white lantern hanging from the 
large foremast. An indistinct vibration quivered 
through its rigging, showing that the furnaces were 
heated to the uttermost. Sheaves of sparks and red 
ashes flew from the funnels, shining in the atmosphere 
like stars. 

I remained thus until six in the morning, without 
Captain Nemo noticing me. The ship stood about a 
mile and a half from us, and with the first dawn of day 
the firing began afresh. The moment could not be far 
off when, the Nautilus attacking its adversary, my 
companions and myself should for ever leave this 
man. I was preparing to go down to remind them’, 
when the second mounted the platform, accompanied 
by several sailors. Captain Nemo either did not, or 
would not, see them. Some steps were taken which 
might be called the signal for action. They were very 
simple. The iron balustrade around the platform was 
lowered, and the lantern and pilot cages were pushed 
within the shell until they were flush with the deck. 
The long surface of the steel cigar no longer offered a 
single point to check its manœuvres. I returned to the 
saloon. The Nautilus still floated; some streaks of 
light were filtering through the liquid beds. With 


414 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


the undulations of the waves the windows were 
brightened by the red streaks of the rising sun, and this 
dreadful day of the 2d of June had dawned. 

At five o’clock the log showed that the speed of 
the Nautilus was slackening, and I knew that it was 
allowing them to draw nearer. Besides, the reports 
were heard more distinctly, and the projectiles, labour- 
ing through the ambient water, were extinguished 
with a strange hissing noise. 

“ My friends,” said I, the moment is come. One 
grasp of the hand, and may God protect us ! ” 

Ned Land was resolute. Conseil calm, myself so 
nervous that I knew not how to contain myself. We 
all passed into the library; but the moment I pushed 
the door opening on to the central staircase, I heard 
the upper panel close sharply. The Canadian rushed 
on to the stairs, but I stopped him. A well-known 
hissing noise told me that the water was running into 
the reservoirs, and in a few minutes the Nautilus was 
some yards beneath the surface of the waves. I under- 
stood the manœuvre. It was too late to act. The 
Nautilus did not wish to strike at the impenetrable 
cuirass, but below the waterline, where the metallic 
covering no longer protected it. 

We were again imprisoned, unwilling witnesses of 
the dreadful drama that was preparing. We had 
scarcely time to reflect ; taking refuge in my room, we 
looked at each other without speaking. A deep stupor 
had taken hold of my mind: thought seemed to stand 
still. I was in that painful state of expectation pre- 
ceding a dreadful report. I waited, I listened, every 
sense was merged in that of hearing! The speed of 
the Nautilus was accelerated. It was preparing to 



The unfortunate vessel sank more rapidly. 







UNDER THE SEA 


415 


rush. The whole ship trembled. Suddenly I 
screamed. I felt the shock, but comparatively light. 
I felt the penetrating power of the steel spur. I heard 
rattlings and scrapings. But the Nautilus, carried 
along by its propelling power, passed through the mass 
of the vessel, like a needle through sailcloth! 

I could stand it no longer. Mad, out of my mind, I 
rushed from my room into the saloon. Captain Nemo 
was there, mute, gloomy, implacable ; he was looking 
through the port panel. A large mass cast a shadow 
on the water; and that it might lose nothing of her 
agony, the Nautilus was going down into the abyss 
with her. Ten yards from me I saw the open shell 
through which the water was rushing with the noise 
of thunder, then the double line of guns and the net- 
ting. The bridge was covered with black agitated 
shadows. 

The water was rising. The poor creatures were 
crowding the ratlines clinging to the masts, strug- 
gling under the water. It was a human ant-heap over- 
taken by the sea. Paralysed, stiffened with anguish, 
my hair standing on end, with eyes wide open, panting, 
without breath, and without voice, I too was watch- 
ing ! An irresistible attraction glued me to the glass ! 
Suddenly an explosion took place. The compressed 
air blew up her decks, as if the magazines had caught 
fire. Then the unfortunate vessel sunk more rapidly. 
Her topmast, laden with victims, now appeared; then 
her spars, bending under the weight of men ; and last 
of all, the top of her mainmast. Then the dark mass 
disappeared, and with it the dead crew, drawn down 
by the strong eddy. 

I turned to Captain Nemo. That terrible avenger. 


4i6 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


a perfect archangel of hatred, was still looking. When 
all was over, he turned to his room, opened the door, 
and entered. I followed him with my eyes. On the 
end wall beneath his heroes, I saw the portrait of a 
woman still young, and two little children. Captain 
Nemo looked at them for some moments, stretched 
his arms towards them, and kneeling down burst into 
deep sobs. 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO 

The panels had closed on this dreadful vision, but 
light had not returned to the saloon; all was silence 
and darkness within the Nautilus. At wonderful 
speed, a hundred feet beneath the water, it was leav- 
ing this desolate spot. Whither was it going? To 
the north or south ? Where was the man flying to after 
such dreadful retaliation ? I had returned to my room, 
where Ned and Conseil had remained silent enough. 
I felt an insurmountable horror for Captain Nemo. 
Whatever he had suffered at the hands of these men, 
he had no right to punish thus. He had made me, if 
not an accomplice, at least a witness of his vengeance. 
At eleven the electric light reappeared. I passed into 
the saloon. It was deserted. I consulted the different 
instruments. The Nautilus was flying northward at 
the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, now on the 
surface, and now thirty feet below it. On taking the 
bearings by the chart, I saw that we were passing the 
mouth of the Channel and that our course was hurry- 
ing us towards the northern seas at a frightful speed. 
That night we had crossed two hundred leagues of 
the Atlantic. The shadows fell, and the sea was 
covered with darkness until the rising of the moon. 
I went to my room, but could not sleep. I was troubled 
with dreadful nightmare. The horrible scene of de- 


4r8 , TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


struction was continually before my eyes. From that 
day, who could tell into what part of the North 
Atlantic basin the Nautilus would take us ? Still, with 
unaccountable speed. Still in the midst of these 
northern fogs. Would it touch at Spitzbergen, or on 
the shores of Nova Zembla? Should we explore those 
unknown seas, the White Sea, the Sea of Kara, the 
Gulf of Obi, the Archipelago of Liarrov, and the un- 
known coast of Asia? I could not say. I could no 
longer judge of the time that was passing. The clocks 
had been stopped on board. It seemed, as in polar 
countries, that night and day no longer followed their 
regular course. I felt myself being drawn into that 
strange region where the foundered imagination of 
Edgar Poe roamed at will. Like the fabulous Gordon 
Pym, at every moment I expected to see “ That veiled 
human figure, of larger proportions than those of any 
inhabitant of the earth, thrown across the cataract 
which defends the approach to the pole.’’ I estimated 
(though, perhaps, I may be mistaken), — I estimated 
this adventurous course of the Nautilus to have lasted 
fifteen or twenty days. And I know not how much 
longer it might have lasted, had it not been for the 
catastrophe which ended this voyage. Of Captain 
Nemo I saw nothing whatever now, nor of his second. 
Not a man of the crew was visible for an instant. The 
Nautilus was almost incessantly under water. When 
we came to the surface to renew the air, the panels 
opened and shut mechanically. There were no more 
marks on the planisphere. I knew not where we were. 
And the Canadian, too, his strength and patience at an 
end, appeared no more. Conseil could not draw a word 
from him; and fearing that, in a dreadful fit of mad- 


UNDER THE SEA 


419 


ness, he might kill himself, watched him with constant 
devotion. One morning (what date it was I could 
not say), I had fallen into a heavy sleep towards the 
early hours, a sleep both painful and unhealthy, when 
I suddenly awoke. Ned Land was leaning over me, 
saying, in a low voice, “We are going to fly.” 

I sat up. 

“ When shall we go ? ” I asked. 

“ To-morrow night. All inspection on board the 
Nautilus seems to have ceased. All appear to be stupe- 
fied. You will be ready, sir? ” 

“Yes ; where are we? ” 

“ In sight of land. I took the reckoning this morn- 
ing in the fog, — ^twenty miles to the east.” 

“ What country is it ? ” 

“ I do not know ; but whatever it is, we will take 
refuge there.” 

“ Yes, Ned, yes. We will fly to-night, even if the 
sea should swallow us up.” 

“ The sea is bad, the wind violent, but twenty miles 
in that light boat of the Nautilus does not frighten 
me. Unknown to the crew, I have been able to procure 
food and some bottles of water.” 

“ I will follow you.” 

“ But,” continued the Canadian, “ if I am surprised, 
I will defend myself ; I will force them to kill me.” 

“We will die together, friend Ned.” 

I had made up my mind to all. The Canadian left 
me. I reached the platform, on which I could with dif- 
ficulty support myself against the shock of the waves. 
The sky was threatening; but, as land was in those 
thick brown shadows, we must fly. I returned to the 
saloon, fearing and yet hoping to see Captain Nemo, 


420 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


wishing and yet not wishing to see him. What could I 
have said to him? Could I hide the involuntary hor- 
ror with which he inspired me? No. It was better 
that I should not meet him face to face ; better to for- 
get him. And yet . How long seemed that day, 

the last that I should pass in the Nautilus, I remained 
alone. Ned Land and Conseil avoided speaking, for 
fear of betraying themselves. At six I dined, but I was 
not hungry ; I forced myself to eat in spite of my dis- 
gust, that I might not weaken myself. At half-past six 
Ned Land came to my room, saying, ‘‘We shall not 
see each other again before our departure. At ten the 
moon will not be risen. We will profit by the darkness. 
Come to the boat ; Conseil and I will wait for you.’' 

The Canadian went out without giving me time to 
answer. Wishing to verify the course of the Nautilus, 
I went to the saloon. We were running N.N.E. at 
frightful speed, and more than fifty yards deep. I cast 
a last look on these wonders of nature, on the riches 
of art heaped up in this museum, upon the unrivalled 
collection destined to perish at the bottom of the sea, 
with him who had formed it. I wished to fix an indeli- 
ble impression of it in my mind. I remained an hour 
thus, bathed in the light of that luminous ceiling, and 
passing in review those treasures shining under their 
glasses. Then I returned to my room. 

I dressed myself in strong sea clothing. I collected 
my notes, placing them carefully about me. My heart 
beat loudly. I could not check its pulsations. Cer- 
tainly my trouble and agitation would have betrayed 
me to Captain Nemo’s eyes. What was he doing at 
this moment? I listened at the door of his room. I 
heard steps. Captain Nemo was there. He had not 


UNDER THE SEA 


421 


gone to rest. At every moment I expected to see him 
appear, and ask me why I wished to fly. I was con- 
stantly on the alert. My imagination magnified every- 
thing. The impression became at last so poignant, that 
I asked myself if it would not be better to go to the 
Captain's room, see him face to face, and brave him 
with look and gesture. 

It was the inspiration of a madman; tortunately 1 
resisted the desire, and stretched myself on my bed to 
quiet my bodily agitation. My nerves were somewhat 
calmer, but in my excited brain I saw over again all my 
existence on board the Nautilus ; every incident either 
happy or unfortunate, which had happened since my 
disappearance from the Abraham Lincoln ; — the sub- 
marine hunt, the Torres Straits, the savages of Papua, 
the running ashore, the coral cemetery, the passage 
of Suez, the Island of Santorin, the Cretan diver, Vigo 
Bay, Atlantis, the iceberg, the south pole, the impris- 
onment in the ice, the fight among the poulps, the 
storm in the Gulf Stream, the Avenger, and the hor- 
rible scene of the vessel sunk with all her crew. All 
these events passed before my eyes like scenes in a 
drama. Then Captain Nemo seemed to grow enor- 
mously, his features to assume superhuman propor- 
tions. He was no longer my equal, but a man of the 
waters, the genie of the sea. 

It was then half-past nine. I held my head between 
my hands to keep it from bursting. I closed my eyes, 
I would not think any longer. There was another 
half hour to wait, another half hour of a nightmare, 
which might drive me mad. 

At that moment I heard the distant strains of the 
organ, a sad harmony to an undefinable chaunt, the 


422 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


wail of a soul longing to break these earthly bonds. 
I listened with every sense, scarcely breathing ; plunged, 
like Captain Nemo, in that musical ecstasy, which 
was drawing him in spirit to the end of life. 

Then a sudden thought terrified me. Captain Nemo 
had left his room. He was in the saloon, which I 
must cross to fly. There I should meet him for the 
last time. He would see me, perhaps speak to me. 
A gesture of his might destroy me, a single word 
chain me on board. 

But ten was about to strike. The moment had come 
for me to leave my room, and join my companions. 

I must not hesitate, even if Captain Nemo himself 
should rise before me. I opened my door carefully; 
and even then, as it turned on its hinges, it seemed to 
me to make a dreadful noise. Perhaps it only existed 
in my own imagination. 

I crept along the dark stairs of the Nautilus, stop- 
ping at each step to check the beating of my heart. I 
reached the door of the saloon, and opened it gently. 
It was plunged in profound darkness. The strains of 
the organ sounded faintly. Captain Nemo was there. 
He did not see me. In the full light I do not think 
he would have noticed me, so entirely was he absorbed 
in the ecstasy. 

I crept along the carpet, avoiding the slightest 
sound which might betray my presence. I was at 
least five minutes reaching the door, at the opposite 
side, opening into the library. 

I was going to open it, when a sigh from Captain 
Nemo nailed me to the spot. I knew that he was 
rising. I could even see him, for the light from the 
library came through to the saloon. He came towards 


UNDER THE SEA 


423 


me silently, with his arms crossed, gliding like a 
spectre rather than walking. His breast was swelling 
with sobs ; and I heard him murmur these words (the 
last which ever struck my ear) — 

“ Almighty God ! enough ! enough ! ” 

Was it a confession of remorse which thus escaped 
from this man’s conscience? 

In desperation I rushed through the library, mounted 
the central staircase, and following the upper flight 
reached the boat. I crept through the opening, which 
had already admitted my two companions. 

“ Let us go ! let us go ! ” I exclaimed. 

Directly ! ” replied the Canadian. 

The orifice in the plates of the Nautilus was first 
closed, and fastened down by means of a false key, 
with which Ned Land had provided himself; the open- 
ing in the boat was also closed. The Canadian began to 
loosen the bolts which still held us to the submarine 
boat. 

Suddenly a noise within was heard. Voices were 
answering each other loudly. What was the matter? 
Had they discovered our flight? I felt Ned Land slip- 
ping a dagger into my hand. 

“ Yes,” I murmured, “ we know how to die! ” 

The Canadian had stopped in his work. But one 
word many times repeated, a dreadful word, revealed 
the cause of the agitation spreading on board the 
Nautilus. It was not we the crew were looking after ! 
“ The maëlstrom ! the maëlstrom ! ” I exclaimed. 

The maëlstrom ! Could a more dreadful word in a 
more dreadful situation have sounded in our ears! 
We were then upon the dangerous coast of Norway. 
Was the Nautilus being drawn into this gulf at the 


424 


TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES 


moment our boat was going to leave its sides? We 
knew that at the tide the pent-up waters between the 
islands of Ferroe and Loffoden rush with irresistible 
violence, forming a whirlpool from which no vessel 
ever escapes. From every point of the horizon enor- 
mous waves were meeting, forming a gulf justly 
called the “ Navel of the Ocean,’’ whose power of 
attraction extends to a distance of twelve miles. There, 
not only vessels, but whales are sacrificed, as well as 
white bears from the northern regions. 

It is thither that the Nautilus, voluntarily or invol- 
untarily, had been run by the Captain. 

It was describing a spiral, the circumference of 
which was lessening by degrees, and the boat, which 
was still fastened to its side, was carried along with 
giddy speed. I felt that sickly giddiness which arises 
from long-continued whirling round. 

We were in dread. Our horror was at its height, 
circulation had stopped, all nervous influence was anni- 
hilated, and we were covered with cold sweat, like a 
sweat of agony! And what noise around our frail 
bark ! What roarings repeated by the echo miles away ! 
What an uproar was that of the waters broken on the 
sharp rocks at the bottom, where the hardest bodies 
are crushed, and trees worn away, “ with all the fur 
rubbed ofif,” according to the Norwegian phrase ! 

What a situation to be in ! We rocked frightfully. 
The Nautilus defended itself like a human being. Its 
steel muscles cracked. Sometimes it seemed to stand 
upright, and we with it ! 

“We must hold on,” said Ned, “ and look after the 
bolts. We may still be saved if we stick to the 
Nautilus ” 


UNDER THE SEA 


425 


He had not finished the words, when we heard a 
crashing noise, the bolts gave way, and the boat, torn 
from its groove, was hurled like a stone from a sling 
into the midst of the whirlpool. 

My head struck on a piece of iron, and with the vio- 
lent shock, I lost all consciousness. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


CONCLUSION 

Thus ends the voyage under the seas. What passed 
during that night — how the boat escaped from the 
eddies of the maëlstrom — how Ned Land, Conseil, and 
myself ever came out of the gulf, I cannot tell. 

But when I returned to consciousness, I was lying 
in a fisherman’s hut, on the Loffoden Isles. My two 
companions, safe and sound, were near me holding 
my hands. We embraced each other heartily. 

At that moment we could not think of returning 
to France. The means of communication between the 
north of Norway and the south are rare. And I am 
therefore obliged to wait for the steamboat running 
monthly from Cape North. 

And among the worthy people who have so kindly 
received us, I revise my record of these adventures 
once more. Not a fact has been omitted, not a de- 
tail exaggerated. It is a faithful narrative of this 
incredible expedition in an element inaccessible to man, 
but to which Progress will one day open a road. 

Shall I be believed ? I do not know. And it matters 
little, after all. What I now affirm is, that I have a 
right to speak of these seas, under which, in less than 
ten months, I have crossed 20,000 leagues in that sub- 
marine tour of the world, which has revealed so 
many wonders. 


UNDER THE SEA 


427 


But what has become of the Nautilus f Did it resist 
the pressure of the maëlstrom? Does Captain Nemo 
still live? And does he still follow under the ocean 
those frightful retaliations ? Or, did he stop after that 
last hecatomb? 

Will the waves one day carry to him this manu- 
script containing the history of his life? Shall Ï ever 
know the name of this man? Will the missing vessel 
tell us by its nationality that of Captain Nemo? 

I hope so. And I also hope that his powerful vessel 
has conquered the sea at its most terrible gulf, and that 
the Nautilus has survived where so many other ves- 
sels have been lost ! If it be so — if Captain Nemo still 
inhabits tlie ocean, his adopted country, may hatred be 
appeased in that savage heart ! May the contemplation 
of so many wonders extinguish for ever the spirit of 
vengeance ! May the judge disappear, and the philos- 
opher continue the peaceful exploration of the sea! 
If his destiny be strange, it is also sublime. Have I 
not understood it myself ? Have I not lived ten months 
of this unnatural life? And to the question asked by 
Ecclesiastes 3000 years ago, That which is far off 
and exceeding deep, who can find it out ’’ ? two men 
alone of all now living have the right to give an 
answer — 

Captain Nemo and Myself. 


THE END 


LB N 20 




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